Painful Echoes
by Shadowdib
Summary: When Danny is forced to choose between his ghost half and his human half, what will he decide? And what will the consequences be of his decision, when half of the teen is seemingly lost forever?
1. Chapter 1

A/N My first DP story, so please be kind. I support DxS, but this isn't a pairing story, so there will be only hints. Note-This is edited a bit, on a suggestion, which I think made it better. On with the story!

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><p>"C'mon Sam. No way." Sam turned to Danny, trying out 'puppy eyes'. It really didn't work for her. Perhaps all the black she was wearing dulled the effects. They were all standing on a hill just outside Amity Park, looking down on the view and up to enjoy the stars. At least they had been, until Sam started trying to convince Danny to bust into the mayor's mansion.<p>

"It's for the environment! It's not like you can get caught. Vlad hasn't updated his security since last time-right, Tucker?" Tucker pulled out his PC, and after a few stylus clicks was in on the villains' cameras.

"Nope. Nothing new. Just zip in, grab all the chemicals, and get out. Easy. Just turn invisible and he'll never know!" Danny sighed, but a light blue ring appeared around his waist anyways. As it split, he pointed something out to Sam as she persuaded him further.

"Nothing bad is going to happen."

"You said that before I stepped into the portal too." Sam waved it away.

"You've saved the town a ton of times. That's well made up for itself." Danny lifted into the air as the transformation finished. His legs melted together, and he raised his hands as they sparked one last time before settling back into the normal white gloves. You see, Danny Fenton was Danny Phantom, half human teen, half ghost, and all hero.

"You owe me for this. Mom thinks I'm studying for Lancer's test tomorrow-and I should be." Tucker shrugged.

"Those chemicals might be mind control, or another attempt at poisoning your dad." The mayor had a bit of a grudge when it came to Jack Fenton. In the past 6 months, Danny had stopped 5 assassination attempts. Danny smiled at the thought of his victories.

"Always good to have a reason, Tuck. I'll be back by 9:45." Sam glanced at her watch.

"45 minutes. Should be enough…"

As Danny flew through the air, he decided to try for a loop de loop.

"Full speed ahead!" He shot forward as fast as he could before breaking up, pushing himself upwards and around before moving even faster.

"Ah, who was I kidding? It's almost worth raiding Vlad's mansion just to get there. Besides, I'd love to see the look on his face when he realizes they're gone!" Chuckling, Danny Phantom poured on the speed, avoiding a lone barn owl before he caught sight of the Masters mansion. Only a few lights were on, meaning Vlad was either out somewhere or working on something downstairs.

"If he's in the lab, I'll have to distract him…nah, I can just sneak in and grab them before he even notices." As Danny flew through the door, he noticed a slight tingle, and felt himself glow brighter for half a second before the green and yellow wallpaper and rows of Packers stuff entered his vision.

_Hmm, never had that happen. I'll ask Jazz to check it out later. _In no hurry to be caught, Danny turned invisible and phased through the floor. He went through 3 levels this way, trying to find the labs. He passed a movie theater showing old Packers clips, a launch pad for a white and silver helicopter with Vlad's face on the side, and what appeared to be a normal living room, complete with coffee table, TV, and fat white cat. The cat looked up and hissed at him, and Danny couldn't help himself-he burst out laughing.

"I told him to get a lonely guy cat-he actually listened to me?" Floating closer, Danny saw that the collar read 'Maddie'

"Geez, he really needs to get over Mom. She doesn't even slightly like him after that camping incid- whoa!" He whipped around, shooting back as a ray gun shot up from under him, missing him by inches. Going intangible, he poked his transparent head through the floor, and his face was bathed in eerie green light. Supernatural light.

"Well, I found the lab. But how did that laser find me…?" Glancing around, Danny let out a sigh of relief as he noticed that one light blue laser was firing fairly random shots from the barrel as he avoided one.

"Okay, so now to find the chemicals." He hovered around the light emerald room, poking his head into boxes every so often. In the fourth one he looked, there were 7 bottles, all labeled 'dangerous'. Danny picked them up, pleased he didn't have to fight to get the glowing bottles. They were all various shades of lilac and green, except for one maroon bottle, which was the largest. The bottles were each about 7 inches, and Danny guessed the red one was around 9 inches. Math had never been his best subject, after all.

"Well, that was easy. Just need to-GRAAAH!" A laser blast shot him in the back, knocking him forward. He'd been so focused on his find that the boy hadn't even noticed his ghost sense going off. As he turned around, legs reappearing as he landed on the floor, Danny groaned as he realized that he wouldn't get the bottles without a fight after all. His foe stood grinning, hands still lightly steaming from the blast. His maroon and snowy white cape whipped out behind him, despite the slight inconvenience of there being no wind.

"Ah, Daniel. Isn't it a school night? You should be at home. " Danny sighed.

"Vlad. How did you know I was here?" Vlad Plasmius, aka Vlad Masters, let out a low chuckle. His hands crackled with ectoplasmic energy.

"Oh, this is the part where I give up my security secrets? All right… I have a scanner over every inch of the mansion, giving me the signature and sending me a message every time a ghost enters the house do I can keep track of my subordinates. Elementary, really. But, I'm afraid I'm going to ask you to drop the bottles." Danny hugged them tighter to his chest, then turned his back to his fiercest nemesis.

"No way, old man. I'm not giving up these bottles that easy." The older ghost laughed again, even louder this time.

"I was hoping you'd say that…" Danny braced himself, wishing he'd brought the Fenton thermos. Then again, if the mayor went missing, Danny Phantom would probably be blamed. Again. Vlad, rather than blasting Danny like he usually did, grabbed a ray gun.

"Oh, think you can't stop me on your own?" Danny taunted, his cocky attitude coming up. Vlad cocked the creamy piece of supernatural metal and pointed it right at Danny.

"Oh, no. I was only trying to get your attention." Suddenly, the ray shot out at Danny, leaving him no time to dodge. He turned intangible, but the ray still somehow struck his chest, knocking both his body down to the ground and the breath out of his lungs. Good thing he didn't really need to breathe as a ghost. Still, the bullet hurt as much as it would if he'd been human. Danny rolled over, fighting the blackness trying to eat up his vision. He clutched his side, surprised when he didn't feel any blood-or ectoplasm. Whatever half-ghosts bled out, he'd never had to find out and never planned to.

"W-what did you do?" Danny was shocked at how tired his voice was.

"Some simple tranquilizers…mixed with some of your ghost DNA from the clones. You should be out in 3…" Danny tried to push himself up, but his vision was blurring.

"2…" He was so close…just another foot…

"1." That did it. Danny felt his eyelids slip shut, but wasn't conscious to be aware of his nemesis lifting him in triumph. A huge evil laugh echoed around the entire room as Vlad shoved the unconscious half-ghost harshly onto a lab table and pulled out a pair of surgical gloves…

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><p>AN I'm most proud of this first chapter from all of my stories. I can really see improvement. I have the whole story planned out, except for the verrrrry end. I only saw got back into Danny Phantom about a month ago, but I think I did okay. Oddly enough, Vlad was kind of easy. I thought with his eerie 'polite yet threatening' manner he would be tricky, but he's the a little less difficult then I thought. Huh. But, I'm sure that will change when I have to work with 'Mayor Vlad'. Anyways, Rate & Review for me to continue! (I am now working on _3 _different stories. I'm now officially insane)


	2. Chapter 2

A/N Jazz already knows. This is sometime during the third season, but before Phantom Planet.

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><p>There was nothing but darkness. There was no pain, but no happiness or joy either. He wasn't dead, wasn't alive, just-there. He had nothing. No memories, no power, only himself.<p>

Danny bolted up.

"YAAAH!" He swung his head around, trying to remember where he was. When he saw all the cruel experiments and smelt the ozone crackling in the air, his panic level went up to bright red. When struggling against the glowing light emerald ropes did nothing but start to wear him out, Danny did the only thing he could think of. Talk.

"All right, Vlad. What did you do?" Vlad, still ghost, slowly melted out from the shadows.

"Ahh, you're awake. Do you really want to know?" Danny tried to phase through the ropes, but no use.

"Of course I do!" Vlad chuckled darkly.

"If you insist… I altered your DNA. You now have until midnight Saturday before you are no longer half ghost. You will chose-whichever you form you are in at the stroke of 12, you will stay." Danny's mouth dropped open. Never, in all his time of knowing Vlad, had he ever thought his foe would sink to this despicably low level.

"You're lying." He tried to put confidence in his voice, but the fear it could be true placed a slight tremble in his words.

"Am I? You'll see soon enough. Now, leave. I have much to attend to." As Vlad waved his glove offhandedly, the ropes broke off the table, but still trapped Danny and started floating towards the ceiling-and the door.

"That's it? No tricks? You're not going to try to kill me like you always do?" Vlad turned back to his young enemy.

"Why would I bother? You have 3 days. Either you can be permanently destroyed as a ghost or are no longer a threat as a plain human. "He snapped his fingers, and one last electrical shock from the ropes short circuited Danny, causing him to pass out again.

When he woke up, he was still ghost on the grass just outside the Masters mansion.

"I just hope he was bluffing…" Danny took to the air, worried.

"I never thought I had to choose. If the incident when I did separate my ghost half and human half is any indication, this won't be good either way. Which is more important?" He sighed.

"To the town, Danny Phantom is. But to those who know Danny Fenton, they'll stop at nothing to find me. Either way, I'm screwed. Danny Phantom can't just disappear-the town would be overrun with ghosts within the month. This stinks." As Danny was contemplating, Sam and Tucker were arguing which were better-computers or gardens.

"But, you can't eat computers." Sam smiled, until Tucker quickly retorted.

"You can't keep homework, calendars, or pictures in a plant. And to me, veggies aren't meant to be edible." As they argued, Sam noticed a bright light streaking toward them. When she pointed it out to Tucker, the boy panicked, running around in aimless circles.

"Meteor!" Sam laughed.

"Since when do meteors look like Danny?" Tucker shrugged.

"Hey, I didn't really look." When Danny got closer, both Sam and Tucker gasped. His suit was tattered, but that wasn't the problem. Danny's face was covered in anguish and indecision. It looked like he was physically in pain from uncertainty.

"DANNY!" When he landed, both teens noticed he wasn't nearly as smooth as usual. Sam raced forward, followed instantly by Tucker, so Sam got Danny's attention by setting her hand on his. She was so worried; the Goth didn't even think to be embarrassed.

"What on earth happened to you? You look like you've been through a war!" Danny looked slowly up at his friend, pushing up his gaze gradually from the moist grass.

"Vlad." Sam could hear the venom in his voice- she'd never heard him so full of total loathing.

"He… he… altered my DNA. I… only have 3 days to either figure out how to fix it or I'm stuck as ghost or human permanently. He gave me a choice." His voice was bitter, but at the same time drained. Both his friends gasped as he suddenly collapsed to his knees.

"DANNY!" Sam wrapped her hands around him, and pulled him tighter, trying to keep him warm before remembering that he was usually this cold. He was shivering intensely, wrapping his arms around himself.

"I think…I think I need some time alone. I'll see you tomorrow." Sam pulled him closer.

"No way. You look ready to jump off a building. We're walking you home." She turned her head to glare at the boy behind her.

"Right, Tucker?" Tucker coughed, turning his gaze to Danny's back.

"Right. C'mon, Danny." Danny had to use both hands to push himself up, not to mention how slowly it took, which worried Sam.

"You should probably turn back. You seem worn out enough as it is, and staying a ghost won't help." Danny shrugged, still shivering, but obeyed. The sapphire ring appeared around his chest before splitting and moving slowly, one up and one down. Danny had his eyes closed, so he didn't notice when, at the very last second, the top disc turned bright red for a millisecond. However, both Sam and Tucker did.

"Danny? You sure you're okay?" This time it was Tucker, setting a hand on his best friends' shoulder. Danny looked up at him confused, and his voice still had a bit of a shiver when he responded.

"Yea. J-just a bit tired." Sam had to keep her hand on Danny's shoulder, and noticed he still seemed really chilly.

"Are you cold? Do you want to borrow my jacket?" Danny tried to push her away, but his intense shivering left his poor argument useless. As Sam slipped his thin arms into her darkly colored coat, she noticed something else-he still looked pale as a ghost. Well, paler then he usually did when he turned back to normal.

"We better get you home quick…you really look sick."

One awkward walk later, with both Danny and Sam quiet while Tucker blabbed on about his new PDA to cover the silence, they arrived under the huge 'Fenton works' sign. Danny shimmied out of Sam's midnight windbreaker before opening the door.

"See you two tomorrow." He sighed, taking a deep breath before ducking behind the building.

"Can't let Mom see me come in…" He muttered, switching back to ghost form. It took almost 4 whole seconds, more than twice the usual time. "Man, I must really be beat…" He jumped up into the air, hovering for a moment before phasing through the bricks into the room. His bedroom, where, unfortunately, his sister was waiting.

"Danny. Do you have any idea what time it is?" Danny shrugged as he reverted back to Danny Fenton, dead tired. Jazz's flame-orange hair whipped around as she gestured angrily towards her watch.

"It's fifteen to 11! What were you-_Danny!" _Danny had reluctantly looked up to catch the tail end of her sentence when she slowly started backing away, the girl's eyes wide.

"I'm exhausted Jazz, so unless you have something to say that-"She had ran forward, grasping the halfa's shoulders before whirling him around to look in the mirror.

"Your eyes! They're still ghost green!" It took a second to register in Danny's mind, but it felt like a kick in the gut when it did.

"_What?" _A second look in the looking glass confirmed his sister's words, not that it made them any easier to take.

"Where have you been?" Still dazed, Danny attempted to explain his predicament to his older sister, while she stood and nodded thoughtfully, not saying a word. After the four minutes it took to tell the story, Jazz finally spoke up.

"It seems your forms are going to have bits and pieces of each other while switched. You're going to have to be really careful…"

_No duh._

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><p>AN Okay, not much to say. Jazz is kind of tricky, but a fun challenge. I just found Toonsurfer-it still has the DP videos even though Megavideo deleted them! I don't know how, but hooray anyways! Please rate and review.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N I have the entire story planned out, I'm just doing my best to keep them in character.

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><p>Danny woke up on his floor. To be precise, he woke up on the carpet underneath his bed.<p>

"Urrgh..." He pushed himself up, noting that he'd left his clothes on last night.

_Last night. What happened again? _As he contemplated, the door creaked open, casting a tall shadow on the blue flooring.

"Good morning, Danny!" There was a momentary pause, before Danny recognized his sister's voice. He sighed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he floated up through the mattress, landing in a laying postion.

"Danny! Why were you under the bed?" The teenager yawned, not even really registering Jazz's words.

"I dunno, must've gone intangible-wait, what?" He shook his head sharply, trying to clear it. Jazz crossed the room in an instant, laying a hand across her little brother' shoulders. She set something down on Danny's dresser, and he looked up at the soft metallic thud to see a silver breakfast tray loaded with eggs, toast, and a cup of coffee, all of it steaming.

"Thanks!" Danny proclaimed happily, reaching for it-the fresh smell was practically irresistible. Jazz rustled his hair, running her slender fingers through the tangled locks for a second before suddenly catching what was wrong.

"Danny, your hair!"

"Mmm hrrr?" Danny mumbled through a mouthful of toast. Jazz pulled out a hand mirror from her pocket, giving it to Danny.

"I knew you were really tired last night, so I figured a good sleep might help. I guess I was wrong for once..." Danny's blue eyes bugged out to see a scalp of snow white hairs.

"But... but..." Suddenly, everything from the night before shot back, striking the halfa like lightning. "It wasn't a dream...?" He had 3 days, before half of him would be erased forever.

"Fenton or Phantom." The boy muttered under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing..." Jazz sighed, getting up to head to Danny's closet. She tugged the wood door open, pulling out a shirt or pair of jeans every few seconds. She hung them on her arm, continuing as Danny slumped back down on his covers, staring at the ceiling with his arms and legs hanging over the edge.

"Here it is!" Danny forced himself up, and saw a bright orange baseball cap with a huge captial 'F' halfway covering a slightly smaller 'W'. The letters were to the left of a stereotypical teardrop-shaped ghost, which resided under a circle with a line running through it. He instantly recognized the old FentonWorks sign, back from when he'd been secretly conviced that his parents were nuts, and believed ghosts were pure figmants of imagination. Now that he was half ghost himself, he felt like both slapping that Danny and wishing he could be him again.

"Wow, haven't seen that in years." Jazz tried to force a smile.

"Can't have you missing school on the day of the big English test, now can we?"

"THE TEST WAS TODAY?" Jazz flinched, tossing his brother the cap.

"Yes... you can study right now, you have about twenty minutes. I can give you a ride, if you really need it for extra time. School is very important, you-" Danny had cut her off, by squeezing his sister as tightly as he could. A genuine smile spread across Jazz's face as she set her hands on his back. All of a sudden, her entire body felt like someone had dunked her in a giant pail of dry ice. Danny found himself on the other side of his sister in an instant, and he could feel the beginnings of a blush starting to creep up to his pale cheeks.

"Danny..."

"That wasn't intentional, I swear!"

"No, if you go intangible in school..."

"Oh. I hid it for a month at the beginning, one more day shouldn't be too hard."

"I'm just worried about you." She knelt down, gripped Danny's backpack at the end of his bed, and set the hat on top before tossing it underhand to her brother. He pulled on the hat, tucking his hair under it before sliding off the bed to grab the tray.

"Well, I get the feeling this will be an interesting day."

xxxxx

"I'm telling you, it has the newest, most cutting edge technology that-oh, never mind." Tucker cut himself off as Sam yawned. "Danny should have been here ten minutes ago!"

"Speak of the ghost..." Sam murmured under her breath, before calling loudly, "Hey, Danny!" The two rushed over to where their friend was walking with his face in his notes.

"I like the hat," Tucker remarked offhandedly. "Haven't seen you wear one in a while." As Danny fingered it nervously, one hand still in his notes, Sam spoke up.

"Why did you show up by the parking lot? I thought you usually-" She waited as a pair of math nerds chatting about algebra passed before finishing "-flew to school?" Danny yawned, blinking.

"I do. Jazz was helping me study, and she gave me a ride. I wasn't sure I would've made it anyway."

"What is that supposed to-"

BRIIIING!

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Danny slid into his seat a grand four seconds before the bell rang. Dash and Paulina sauntered in together moments after the final bell, with Star and Kwan not a moment behind them. Mr. Lancer was already at his desk, but made no move to notice the popular crowd. The paunchy teacher stood up dramatically, holding up a thick stack of papers.

"This, students, is your test. You all knew about it." He paused, noting the startled looks on the faces of Kwan, Star, and Nathan. "Or at least, you do now." He started moving through the room, passing out papers. Danny started when he saw there were 6 pages being given to every kid! Mr. Lancer noticed the look on Danny's face and smiled at the boy, giving him his test.

"The first two pages are for extra notes." After another minute, all the tests had been handed out and the teacher walked to the front of the room.

"Now, you will be given exactly fifty-five minutes to complete the test. I hope you all do well. You should hope so too, because this test makes up a third of your grade. No talking or you will be downgraded. The timer starts…" He looked down at his watch, letting silence befall the room for a moment before calling out, "Now." Danny looked down, sorting out his scrap paper from the real test, and noticed the first question.

_Who was the antagonist, and what was their motive in the first Shakespearian play written? _Danny placed his pencil on the lined paper, a small smile spreading across the halfa's face.

_Maybe this won't be so bad after all... _

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Ding! A small bell went off, causing some students to breathe a sigh of relief, and others to throw down frantic last minute edits. Danny scribbled down one last answer, before letting a small grin pass his lips. He shifted the scrap paper to the bottom, envisioning a good grade on the front of the test.

_Only if you stay human. _Danny sighed, heaving his shoulders.

_And reality rears its ugly head once again. One that looks a lot like Vlad..._

"Daydreaming, Mr. Fenton?" The educator's voice brought Danny back with a slight jolt.

"No, Sir." He handed up the papers, which were still clutched rather tightly in his fingers. Mr. Lancer grabbed them, then glanced at his first answer. The barest hints of a smile was on his half tanned face as he muttered to Danny,

"Perhaps there's hope for you yet, Danny." Danny practically beamed-Mr. Lancer never complimented him. Okay, maybe it wasn't really a compliment, but it was good nonetheless. The class poured out of the room, chatting about the football game after school, the test all but forgotten. Danny quickly spotted Sam and Tucker through the mess.

"Hey! Sam, Tuck!" Both goth and geek turned around, only to gasp in unison. Danny instinctively flipped around, knowing his ghost sense hadn't gone off, but also knowing his powers weren't currently top notch.

"Your hair!" Sam hissed, while Tucker pulled off his trademark beret, plopping it on Danny's head before yanking it off almost instantly.

"Nope, doesn't cover it all." Danny's eyes widened.

"Cover what? My hair's still white?" Sam shook her head quickly, opening her locker to grab a black purse with red zippers. She pulled out a small hand held mirror while Tucker stepped in front of them both.

"If it was only white earlier, this is much worse."

"Hey, I found his hat!" Tucker leaned over and picked up the now scuffled over and dirty baseball cap. Danny yanked it out of his friend's grip, but snuck a glance in Sam's mirror as he lifted his hand to put it on-and dropped the hat again at the sight.

His hair color was rippling like a wave, not even distinct black and white but instead a vague darkish gray. The color refused to stay the same, shifting with every instant. Numbly, Danny reached down before gripping the hat and straightening up. Tucker snatched it out of his hands and pulled it over his friend's head, with Sam tucking his straggling locks under the fabric.

"C'mon, Danny. At least we have algebra together next period. You okay?" Danny nodded slowly, before twisting the combination on his locker, grabbing his books, and gripping them tightly to his chest.

_Whoopee, 6 more periods to go._

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><p>AN I am soooooo sorry about the wait. Please forgive a young author? Anyway, please R&R, and I'll do my very best to get a faster update. Which shouldn't be too hard, as I had no access to a computer for about two weeks of the wait. Sorry again, and please review!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N Okay, you are free to pelt me with overripe fruits. I. Am. So. Unbelievably. Sorry. If you can forgive me, thank you thank you! Here's the next chapter.

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><p>Danny trudged along next to Sam, noting silently that the hat hadn't shifted and hoping no one would notice it. The dirt had dampened the bright orange color a bit, so the hat was a little duller and more muted. That was more suited to Danny Fenton-a stay in the back, quiet type. He drilled his gaze into the floor, mulling over his thoughts.<p>

_Okay, if it's 9:45 on Thursday, I have 68 hours-no, that's not right… um… oh. We're here. _He walked into the algebra room, with Sam only a moment behind.

"You sure you're okay?" Sam asked quietly. "You look pale. Ghostly pale." Danny waved it off.

"I'm just fine. You worry about me too much." He pulled out his chair in the second to last row and collapsed down, dropping his bag in front of him. "Besides, math always makes me queasy. You know that." Sam shrugged.

"Yea." She moved up to her seat, in the third row and to the side. Danny tried to clear his mind, when the algebra teacher, Miss Bellintine, stepped into the room. She was a pretty, just out of college type, and all of the kids liked her.

"Good morning class! Now, if you'll just open your textbooks to page three hundred seventy four…" Danny sighed, pulling out the book. He hated math…

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Forty-five minutes later, Miss Bellintine let the class out a bit early. Danny, being near the back, was the second kid out of class. He raced straight to the bathroom, checking to make sure the hat hadn't fallen off. To his happy surprise, it hadn't-but a far too familiar shadow fell over the boy when he was turning around. Dash.

"Hey, Fen-toad," The jock hissed. "Since when did you come in here for third period? Primping for your girlfriend? Oh, wait-you don't have one! Except for Manson, the goth frea-" Danny, in no mood for Dash's teasing, had whirled around, his eyes flaring toxic green.

"Dash, I'm in no mood." The bully grinned, adopting a sing-songy voice.

"Aww, is da widdle baby angwy?" Danny closed his eyes, closing to ten and breathing deeply. _Don't do anything, you could seriously hurt him, don't do anything..._ He opened his eyes again, but the bully was gone.

"Good, I don't k-GRAAAH!" Dash had snuck up behind him and shoved him forward, causing him to slip on the wet tile and slam face-first unto the floor. Danny's hat, so carefully wedged on, had flown off. He felt it come off, and his hand flew up in horror. Danny shot up, his shocked expression reflected in the mirror. A quick glance at his hair showed him-his own india-ink black, with little bits of orange string from the hat. Danny breathed a huge sigh of relief, before Dash pushed him into the sink. When Danny shakily pulled himself out, his entire face soaked in water, the boy was gone. Danny promised himself to get revenge on the jock later as he picked up his pack and scurried to his next class.

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The next two periods passed slowly, but not much happened. Danny snatched a tray off of the pile at lunch, choosing the meatloaf and dragging himself over to the usual table the trio sat at. Tuck was fiddling with his PDA like always, and Sam was still in the line for milk. Everything seemed normal, and Danny decided to enjoy it before something went wrong, taking a deep breath before sitting down. "Hey, bud, what'd you think of Lancer's test?" Tucker asked.

"It wasn't that hard. I think I did pretty well. You?" Tucker shrugged.

"Same." Sam brought over her bag lunch and plopped down, turning to Danny.

"Feeling any better?" Danny's stomach twisted up, but he ignored it.

"Yea, loads." The halfa picked up his fork and prodded the meatloaf. "How ironic is it, that it's meatloaf today?"

"What do you mean?" Both of his friends asked at the same time. Danny looked up at them.

"Well, the first real ghost fight I ever had was over the meatloaf-you know, when Sam changed the menu to vegetarian?"

"Hey, the school menu needed a little update, that's all!"

"I'm not blaming you, Sam. I just think it's sort of like a cycle. Back to the beginning."

"Oh, right." Sam replied, nibbling her fingernail. "I still can't see how you can stand to eat that stuff."

"And I can't see how you can eat that garbage. So we're even." Danny said back, grinning as he cut off a piece of his lunch and put it in his mouth. He chewed slowly, thinking. _This actually tastes all ri- woah!_ He had started sinking through the bench with alarming speed. "Uh, guys, a little help?" Danny hit the floor with a thud, his torso still stuck in the seat. Sam's eyes widened as she leaned over, grasping Danny's shoulders and yanking him up as hard as she could. Not a moment too soon, as Danny resolidified the moment he was free.

"Okay. Woah. That was… unexpected." Sam kept her hands on his shoulders, and noticed how he was trembling.

"Danny, are you okay?" He gave her a look. "Okay, no, but how are you going to make it the rest of the day? If you fall through the floor during gym class, your secret is blown!" Danny scooted away, rubbing his forehead.

"I'll be fine, Sam. I just need to remember to be careful. I hid it for an entire month-besides, one of you are in all of my afternoon classes." Sam cast him a concerned glace.

"Yea, but how much can we really do? If you start shooting ecto-blasts in the middle of a lecture, there's not much we can do to make everyone shrug it off."

"For once, I agree." Tucker chipped in. "Dude, you should probably go home if you can't control your powers." Danny whipped his head around, his eyes glowing.

"I'm. Fine." He practically hissed through gritted teeth. Tucker raised his hands in surrender, backing off, but Sam moved closer.

"No, you're not. Calm down, Danny. It's probably whatever chemicals Vlad injected into you. Stay in control." Danny gazed at her for a moment before his eyes slowly faded back to the normal sky blue.

"You're right… I don't know what happened…" Sam laid a hand across his shoulder.

"It's fine. We're here for you, Danny." She turned to glare at the techno-geek, "Aren't we, Tucker?"

"Yep. Right here for you, bro." Danny forced a grin unto his face.

"Thanks, both of you. You're the best friends a guy could ask for." Sam sighed.

"I'm glad you think that, but you're going to have to talk to Jazz about this."

"What?" Danny almost yelped. "No!"

"She knows how to help you make the right choice. We'll stand by you no matter what you decide, but you need to know that it's the RIGHT choice." Danny opened his mouth to protest, but he knew Sam was right.

"I feel like I'm asking too much of her lately, though…" He muttered, poking his meatloaf.

"Are you kidding? You're her _brother_, Danny. Besides, she loves this sort of thing. You of all people should know that." Sam turned the boy around to face her. "Promise me you'll talk with her after school."

"…Fine." He ripped off another piece of lunch meat and shoved it in his mouth.

xxxxxxxxxxx

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, and before he knew it, Danny was halfway home. He played with his words, trying to get them to sound natural before he faced his sister.

"'Jazz, I want to talk to you.' No, that sounds like I have bad news… well, this would qualify…. 'Jazz, can I talk to you for a sec?' That's a little better-oh. I'm home." He creaked the door open to see his father swinging around some sort of new gun and Jazz on the couch with her face buried in a thick book.

_All, sweet normalcy…_ Danny sighed. "Jazz? Can I talk with you for a sec?" His sister looked up, closing her book and standing up.

"Sure, Danny. You can always talk with me." As the siblings passed, Jack grabbed Danny's shoulder.

"Danny, d'ya want to try out this-"

"Sorry dad, I need to do something first." Seeing the crestfallen look on his father's face, Danny sighed. "We can test it out together later, okay?" Jack nodded and started fiddling with the device. When Danny crossed the kitchen, he heard something explode behind him.

_Mom'll fix it..._

They reached Jazz's room, and she opened the door, ushering Danny inside. The teen settled at her desk, pulling out a notepad while her brother sat down on her bed.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Danny gave her a 'duh!' look, and she backtracked. "Okay, _why _do you want to talk about it?" Danny shrugged.

"Sam said I had to. Besides, I kind of wanted to. This is a pretty big decision." Jazz started chewing the eraser on her pencil.

"About that... Danny... I think we need to tell mom and dad." Danny practically hit the ceiling-in fact, he did, levitating without thinking.

"_What_?" Jazz held up her hands in front and above her, sighing.

"Danny, I've been thinking about this since last night. Mom and dad are experts-if anyone can help, they can. Besides, either way someone major is removed from their lives. If they lose Phantom, they'll spend the rest of their lives trying to track him down, and if they lose you-well, I don't even have to explain." Danny slowly lowered to the ground. He'd realized that as well, and he'd known this day would come someday.

"Dinner. I'll tell them after dinner." Danny decided as he stood up. He turned to his sister. "I'll be down in the lab then. Keep them distracted until I tell you." He tossed her a walkie talkie- he usually had a spare for Sam or Tucker. Jazz nodded slowly as Danny walked out.

"Good luck, little brother."

* * *

><p>AN Again, I can never apologize enough. The big reveal is next chapter. Yes, this was absolutely vital to the story. Please please please review, it makes me really happy that people enjoy my writing. Any flames will be used to roast marshmallows.


	5. Chapter 5

Edit: I realized I missed a really huge question for Maddie to ask, so this is a slight update. I also extended his conversation with Sam, even if only by a little.

Original A/N: I had so many ways to write this chapter, it's actually almost scary. I even had one where-I swear I'm not kidding- Skulker showed up and started a fight with Danny while the Box Ghost annoyed Danny's parents. So, yea, I still think it went pretty well for the billions of ideas I had for it.

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><p>Danny sighed deeply, trudging to his room. He glanced at the phone lying on his bed, and realized that it was Jazz's when he saw the pink color. "She already planned this, didn't she?" He plopped down on his bed, tracing the phone with his index finger absently. He picked it up, flipping the cell open and dialing Tuck's number before he could talk himself out of it. The other teen answered on the third ring, and his voice was a bit hesitant.<p>

"Jazz? Why are you-" Danny cleared his throat.

"It's me, Tuck." Danny could almost feel Tucker's tone loosen up.

"Oh, hey dude! Why are you calling?" The halfa took a deep breath before responding slowly, trying to rid his voice of the nerves he felt.

"I'm… I'm going to tell mom and dad. About… you know…" Tuck gasped, but quickly regained composure and reassured Danny.

"Hey, it's your choice. I'm behind you all the way." Danny smiled weakly.

"Thanks. Glad to hear it. I'm going to call Sam now."

"Good luck." Danny pressed the red 'end call' button and quickly typed in Sam's number, but just stared at the keypad for a moment.

"Just do it…" He muttered to himself, jabbing the green button. _Please pick up…_

"Hello?" Danny let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding.

"Hi, Sam? It's Danny. Listen, I'm going to tell mom and dad. I want them to know." Sam sucked in a breath.

"Danny…are you sure? I'll stick with you, but unless you're positive..."

"I'm sure. They need to know. It's going to be hard to expain, but they _do_ need to know. It's going to be a pretty big loss for them either way. They deserve to know. Besides, they're ghost experts. If anyone can possibly help, they can." Knowing Sam like he did, Danny figured she'd be nodding.

"Remember the second disaster with Freakshow? They still loved you. You'll be fine." Danny smiled again-it was good to know he had both of his best friends behind him.

"Thanks, Sam."

"Good luck…" Danny's finger hovered over the 'end call' button.

"Thanks. I'm going to need it." He pressed the red button, dropping the phone on his bed. "Okay. Relax, Danny. You can do this…" Suddenly, he spotted Jazz's scrapbook in the corner, where he'd left it the other day. It was open to the day when he'd first tried on the white lab suit with black gloves and boots. "They made a few of them, didn't they? Hmm…"

xxxxxxx

Later that evening, Danny was looking through his closet when his mother called up.

"Danny! Jazz! Dinner's ready!" There was a pause, then, "It's hot dogs!" Danny called back,

"Be right down!" He shoved the news article he'd been looking at in his jean pocket and ran down the stairs, his foot almost sinking in on the bottom step. Luckily, he managed to pull it out before his mother noticed. Maddie smiled at him, sitting down. Jack was still fiddling with the gun he'd been aiming around when Danny had gotten home.

"Put it away, dear." Maddie told Jack, laying a hand on his arm. The man pouted, but reluctantly set it on the counter. Jazz appeared on the steps, and Danny took that as his cue to sit down. Maddie jumped back up, and grabbed the hot dogs.

"Um, these are the ones that _aren't_ infected with ghostly energy, right?" Danny asked nervously. Maddie shook her head.

"These are ghost free. I made them." Reassured, Danny grabbed a bun from the bag on the table and pulled it open, setting it on his plate. Maddie dropped a hot dog on everyone's plate, and sat down. She tried to start a conversation, but both Jazz and Danny were staying quiet.

"So, how's school?" Danny decided to try to make a normal conversation.

"All right, I guess." He took a bite of his dog, then swallowed, grabbing for the ketchup.

"That's good. Jasmine?" Jazz nodded.

"I got an A on my extra credit psychology report for social science." Maddie nodded approvingly.

"Good for you, sweetie!" The rest of dinner went mostly like that-Maddie asked a question, and the teens would answer, with Jack occasionally injecting something about ghosts. Twenty minutes later, when they were finished, Jazz stood up.

"Mom, Dad, can I talk to you for a second?" Puzzled, her parents walked her into the living room where she ushered them. Leaving behind them, Jazz nodded at Danny, then mouthed, 'five minutes' as she followed. Danny sighed, then walked slowly down to the lab, pulling the article out of his pocket.

Show time.

xxxxxxx

Jazz felt the communicator buzz in her pocket. She'd been distracting her parents with a small speech for school, asking them to see if they could correct anything. "Mom, dad… Danny wanted to talk to you." Maddie cocked her head, then stood up.

"Well, okay. Where is he?" Jazz replied almost too quickly, trying to cover her own nerves.

"Down in the lab."

"The lab!" Jack interrupted. "Maybe he wants to tell us that he wants to follow our footsteps as a ghost hunter!" Jazz nodded slowly.

"Well, it _does_ have to do with ghosts… come on." She walked in front of her parents on the way down, but when they reached the main lab, Maddie took the lead. The lights were dimmed, so that the equipment all held an eerie green ghostly glow.

"Danny?" Maddie called softly. "What did you want to talk to us about?" Pause. "Where are you?"

"Over here," came the equally quiet response from the darkest corner of the lab. There was a flash of pure, clean white in between the broken equipment and scattered blueprints. Both parents walked over, Jack with a smile and Maddie with a confused expression-she knew that something was wrong.

"So, Danny, you want to be a ghost hunter like your old man?" Jack asked happily. Danny shook his head slowly, stepping out. He was wearing his old spandex Fentonworks ensemble, the one with a white body, and black gloves and boots. Maddie sighed in relief-good, he was all right. Danny's expression was grim as he shifted his feet, his hands intertwined behind his back.

"Mom, dad… can you promise me something?" Maddie blinked.

"Sure, as long as it's not dangerous. What?" Danny took a deep breath before responding.

"That you won't pull your guns on me, okay?" His mother gasped, and his dad looked puzzled, finally understanding that this was serious.

"Of course!" They said in unison. Danny took another deep breath and pulled out the article from behind his back. The headline loudly proclaimed, Ghost Boy Saves the Day Again! The subtitle said, Danny Phantom Helps Save Students. Maddie grabbed it and spoke first.

"Danny, what's this? The ghost boy is a public menace, and it's our job to take care of him!" Danny pointed to the picture. It had a picture of Danny Phantom waving and smiling at the camera.

"Take a closer look." He traced the outline of Phantom's body, then pointed at the name 'Danny Phantom' in the subtitle. "Notice anything?"

"No… why?" A spark was starting to jump through her brain, but Maddie didn't even realize it. Danny sighed, then stepped back a little, spreading his arms. He moved his hand into a wave position, so he mirrored the picture. Maddie gasped, and slowly pulled the picture up.

They matched perfectly. She pulled it down again, and Danny was standing stock still.

"Danny…?" She asked quietly, her tone like that of a mystified little girl. Jack looked over his wife's shoulder, and frowned at the picture.

"What? What is it?" Danny slowly twitched his fingers and closed his eyes. He reached deep within himself, and felt the familiar chill as the blue ring formed around his waist and split. Both of his parents gasped in unison, and Danny kept his eyes closed as he heard a small rustle. He slowly forced his eyes open, and both his father and mother were staring at him with awestruck faces.

"Danny…?" Maddie repeated, subtly shaking her head.

"Mom. Dad." He let his legs melt together, floating. "Do you remember the lab accident last year?" It took a moment for either to answer.

"Yes…" Maddie eventually choked out. "But how...?" Danny shrugged.

"Well, when it didn't work the first time dad turned it on, I decided to try to see if I could find anything. You forgot to turn on the 'on' button. I found out by accidentally pressing it." Maddie's jaw dropped, the scientist in her internally going crazy.

"Then, the overload of ectoplasmic energy must have fused with your human DNA while you were still in the portal! So… you're… you're..." Her eyes widened as it finally seemed to hit her. Danny nodded.

"I'm Danny… Danny Phantom." He paused. As if in shock, his mother took a step forward. Jack followed a moment later.

"Why didn't you tell u-" Suddenly, realization dawned. "You were scared, weren't you? That we would hurt you?" Danny just nodded. His throat had seized up. Maddie rushed the rest of the way forward, and pulled him up in a hug.

"We would never! We're ghost hunters, but your parents first! If you had told us, we never would have chased-" Her face paled. "We could have killed you! All those times-" Danny tried to force out a laugh, and somehow it came out naturally.

"Dad doesn't exactly have great aim… and you didn't, did you? Besides, it's kind of hard to kill a ghost... well, half ghost, but still." Maddie smiled a little, then hugged him tighter. Jack slowly walked up, his face still dazed. Danny, his smile real now, broke off from his mom.

"Dad, I'm fine." Jack just stared straight at his son. His mind still hadn't quite wrapped around it, so he just asked the first thing that came to his head.

"So… you can fly?" Jack blinked, his mouth slightly open as Danny's smile broke into a real grin. His parents were both okay with it!

"Yes, and more." He closed his eyes, and concentrated. _Please let it work right this time… _He grinned as he felt a tingle run through his body. When the halfa opened his eyes, he saw everything in double, until he blinked. His parents were staring, dumbfounded, at the two Dannys.

"I only just figured out this one. Neat, huh?" They both nodded. "C'mon, I want to show you something." He held out his hand (well, hands technically, if you count the fact he was doing it with his duplicate as well) for each parent to take. When they did, he concentrated, turning intangible. It was taking a lot of energy to do everything with a double, but he was glad to push it for this. Jazz winked and gave Danny a thumbs up as he lifted up, floating through the ceiling. Flying up, through the OP center, then into the sky, he let out a breath. The sun was setting, and Danny floated up as high as he could while carrying his parents. In all honesty, he was starting to get tired, but he pushed it down. Feeling a need to say something, Danny commented,"Pretty, isn't it?" His doubled voice sounded eerie, but also kind of cool.

"Yes…" Maddie whispered. "Oh, Danny…" He grinned, but it started to slip. Okay, this was getting really exhausting. Why was he tiring so fast? He floated them all down and landed on the curved OP center roof and quickly rejoined with his duplicate. He was breathing hard.

"Are you all right? Is that normal?" His mom asked. "Wait, I thought ghosts didn't have lungs…"

"They- we- _they_ don't. I'm only half. The normal rules don't apply. I'm not exactly sure what my insides look like, and I don't really want to." Her eyes darkening, Maddie realized something.

"Danny, although I'm really glad you did… why did you tell us now? I don't think we would have ever figured it out on our own..." Danny sighed-this was going to take a lot of explaining.

"Well… a nemesis of mine (he figured it would be easier if he brought up Vlad later) injected me with some sort of chemical that… well… gave me a choice." He looked down to his glowing boots. "I can stay human or ghost." As his parents gasped in shock, he looked back up, his green eyes flicking to blue for a moment. A few thoughts flicked through his mind, and he tried to steel his expression.

"Danny?" Both Jack and Maddie asked at the same time. The ghost boy met their gazes and floated up to be up at eye level.

"…And I think I've decided."

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><p>AN Now THAT is a cliffhanger, if I do say so myself. I hope that no one got too out of character for the reveal. I've seen people go bad with it all too easily, so if there's something I need to get better at, then do tell me. I hope you liked it, so rate, review, and enjoy please.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N Wow… six whole reviews. Is it sad that excited me? It's like double what I usually get for most stories, and I got a great long review. So people, if you like this story, for the love of Danny, please review! There's upwards of a hundred people that read the last chapter, and 27 people have it on alerts. I hate sounding like a little brat, but please, I'd love feedback. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy-and gives me motivation to get off my butt and try and update faster. *rant over* So, after that cliffy, I'm guessing a lot of you were curious what Danny would choose. Well, one reviewer guessed, cookies to her, she knows who she is. I don't state it straight out at the start, but it should be pretty obvious by the end. So… okay, after that mini-rant, ON WITH THE STORY! *points epically like Super Danny*

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><p>Maddie's lavender eyes widened as far as they could go. Without turning, she knew her husband would be mirroring her.<p>

"Danny… how long did you have to decide?" She asked hesitantly, afraid of hearing him say what form he wanted to stay in.

"Saturday at midnight." He sighed, about to shift his feet again until he realized that his left foot was half sunk into the roof. "Whoa!" Teetering forward, he almost fell through. Trying desperately to stay up, he shot an energy ray to the roof, the force propelling him back up. However, it had only singed the metal. He was losing strength faster then he'd thought.

"That leaves us… uh…" Jack started counting on his fingers. Maddie checked her watch.

"It's 6:00 Thursday now. That means _we_ have 54 hours." She said 'we' on purpose and accented it, so Danny would know he wasn't alone. It worked-he smiled a little, his eyes flickering to their normal human color again for a second.

"So, you think you can help?" Danny asked hopefully. He had the feeling that they wouldn't like what he had decided anyway, but considering the pros and cons of both lives, safety always in jeopardy but only as a ghost, the choice still seemed obvious.

"Well, we can try!" Maddie grinned as she spoke. She'd seen the hope in his eyes. Danny grabbed both of his parent's wrists and sank through the ceiling, his legs melting together again-it felt more natural that way. When they made it down to the lab, he clutched his side for a second. When he lifted his hand, there was a small cut- that oozed red, human blood. Looking up, he saw a drop of blood on the lab ceiling.

"I must have lost my intangibility for a moment…" His brow creased in worry. "It's getting faster…" Jazz walked up, setting down the book she'd been reading.

"Danny, we're all on your side now. Relax, we'll get through thi-" Her hand fell through his shoulder. At first, she thought it was another accident, but he'd stepped away from her.

"Just don't touch me right now, okay?" He asked quietly. Jazz cocked her head, but nodded.

"Is there any real reason I shouldn't?" He shook his head.

"I dunno… everything just seems really sensitive all of a sudden." He shivered, and his eyes suddenly flared blue, glowing. His boots and gloves swiftly turned the same color. "Uh, guys… I'd back up." Nobody moved, but when Danny shot a death glare at them, (being a ghost at the moment, it was twice as creepy) all of the Fentons quickly retreated to the opposite corner of the room. Danny's eyes widened as he ran out the door to the lab. From the speed at which he was pounding his feet up the steps, whatever was going on must have been bad. Suddenly, they heard him yelp, but it sounded more shocked then pained as Maddie, Jazz, and Jack rushed out. Danny had made it to the living room before… he'd seemed to have produced a huge energy blast that had frozen everything in the room solid. Icicles were dripping from the ceiling and the furniture.

"Woah… how did you even do that?" Maddie asked, awed at the sheer amount of power that it must have taken to create so much matter out of nothing. She was instantly pulled back to reality when she heard a sickly moan from the floor.

"Oh man..." Jazz rushed forward as Danny wavered on the ground, about to fall from his knees to his stomach. His eyes had fallen to half lidded, and he held his side for dear life. Jazz managed to pull her brother up, then drag him to the middle of the couch. His eyes were back to ghostly green, but there was still some of the blue glow left over.

"Danny, what happened? Why did you do that?" Maddie asked, worried for her son but trying to cover it. Danny tiredly rubbed his head.

"I… I'm not sure. I don't have complete control over my powers right now. It's probably not safe for you guys to even be this close." Danny curled up on himself a little, trying to force his eyes open. He set his head on his knees, as he curled his legs up into the fetal position on the couch, shivering. Jazz sat down on the chair next to him, and Maddie and Jack settled down next to Danny.

"Honey, we're here for you. No matter what. Right, Jack?" His attention had wandered to the ice surrounding them, and he was rubbing an icicle dangling from the couch.

"Wha-oh, yeah. Right." Danny grinned weakly.

"Thanks, guys. A lot." He looked down to the lab. "We still need to-" He closed his eyes for a second before continuing, "Start working." Maddie clucked her tongue, but nodded.

"He's right. We have a time limit." Danny tried to stand up, but his legs felt weak. He let them melt together, and floated down the stairs. It was taking all of his energy, and he fell into a chair when he made it down.

"That's it!" Jazz called when she saw him on the chair. "You're going upstairs." Danny tried to weakly protest.

"I'll be fi-" She cut him off.

"Danny, you're about to pass out as it is. Go upstairs." He wasn't about to argue, but they still needed something to work on. He grabbed a clean needle from a table and jabbed it in his arm, pushing the plunger and gently extracting it. The beaker was full of green ectoplasm spotted with red blood.

"Danny, what are you doing?" Jazz cried, but Danny just walked past her to hand it to his mother.

"You probably need a sample." Maddie looked surprised.

"Thanks, Danny. Jazz is right, you should-"

"I'm going." He turned back to a human and trudged up the stairs as his parents hurried over to the corner where most of the scientific equipment was. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and a turn of his head showed that it was his sisters'. She smiled at him.

"Danny, you'll be fine. Mom and d… well, mom will find something." He gently pushed her hand off.

"Thanks, but no thanks Jazz. I just need some rest, okay?" She nodded.

"Yeah." She kissed his head then headed back down. Danny rubbed the spot, then forced his feet to walk him upstairs. He collapsed into his bed and tried to fall asleep, but worried thoughts chased each other around for a good two hours before he drifted off into a fitful rest.

* * *

><p>"Good morning, Danny!" A familiar voice roused him from a nightmare of being beaten senseless by Plasmius while the whole school watched and laughed. As he blinked his eyes open, his mother was standing there, smiling. Her hood was down, and lavender eyes glinted in the sudden assault of sunlight as she pulled the window open. "It's Friday!" Danny groaned and rolled over, pulling up his covers.<p>

"But… wait, Friday?" He tried to jump off of bed, but in his haste ended up completely twisted up in the blankets as he fell off in a tangled heap instead. His mother rushed over.

"Are you okay?" He held up a hand.

"Yeah, I'm fine." The time limit ticked down in his mind. "What time is it?" Maddie clucked her tongue.

"It's 7:05." He pushed himself up.

"Okay, I'm coming dow-" Suddenly, there was a crash from the basement. The Fentons looked at each other.

"Dad." Danny said at the same time that Maddie muttered, "Jack." They both ran down the stairs, but to their surprise, they heard a loud yell from the basement- it was Jazz, not Jack! Danny, not wanting to waste any time, just grabbed his mother and fazed them both through the floor. The first thing he heard was Jazz yelling, but this time it was more of a battle cry.

"Aiee-yee!" She was aiming the Fenton Bazooka at three ghost vultures, which Danny recognized as Vlad's main henchmen. Jack was next to her, holding the Jack-o-Nine-Tails menacingly. Danny lowered his mother to the floor and floated back to be at just above eye level with them, keeping his eyes purely on the ghosts and not noticing what his mother was staring at.

"'Eh, it's just our job!" One of them trilled with an accent at Jazz, who just aimed another shot at them. One of them was carrying a piece of paper, and he dodged the blast to avoid it getting splattered.

"Danny…" His mother muttered, and he finally looked up, and his jaw dropped at the sight on the far wall.

The lead bird finally noticed Danny, the boy gaping at the wall behind them. He opened his beak to speak, but Danny just absently shot a green blast at him.

The ghost portal… was gone. There was just a massive hole, with wires and scraps of metal poking out of the wall and littering the floor. Danny couldn't believe that it was just… destroyed. On one hand, ghosts would have to come through Vlad's portal, which would probably be a big annoyance for his enemy. On the other hand, now he couldn't take the option he hadn't even realized until now- stay a human and just jump back in the portal after midnight. Even with blueprints, it would take months, even a year to repair the portal.

_Vlad didn't want to take any chances… I can't believe he'd do that! That's just flat out cheating! _Filled with anger, Danny turned to glare at the vultures. He could feel his eyes flicking with an odd sort of soreness, but he immediately pushed it away. The lead bird flew right up to him and released the paper before waving a wing in a gesture reminiscent of an inside wave. "C'mon, ve're done here." They fazed through the roof to the lab as Danny dropped to the floor, clutching the paper in his fist. Jack dashed up the stairs, chasing them, but Jazz walked over to Danny, dropping her gun.

"Danny… I…" His talkative sister seemed to have been sapped of her usual psychiatric talk that was supposed to make him feel better. He just gazed at the portal sadly.

"That…. That… jerk!" Danny spat, unsure of an insult bad enough but all right to say in front of his parents. He clenched his fists tighter, feeling the paper crumple up in the left one. His sister and mother both laid a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up. Jazz cleared her throat and spoke first.

"Danny… you need to calm down." At that, he twisted out of her grip. He spun around, floating up, unconsciously wanting to have at least some illusion of control over his falling apart life and hoping height would help.

"_Calm down_? Why, how? Why does it matter? At midnight tomorrow, I lose half of myself forever! I have a very good reason to freak out, thank you very much!" He crossed his arms, blinking his still sore eyes. Maddie leaned over and whispered something to Jazz, who looked at her and shook her head, looking up to Danny worriedly. Maddie walked over to a table covered in ectoplasmic goo and grabbed a small circular object that resembled a compass. When she popped it open, one half had a compass and the other a handheld mirror. She tossed it up to Danny, who caught it with a confused look on his face.

"Danny, take a look." His mother said slowly, as if trying not to upset him. Narrowing his eyes, the question 'why?' on the tip of his tongue, he glanced into his reflection. When he saw it, he almost dropped the small device. Sure, he was his normal ghostly self-oddly tanned skin, white glow and hair, but there was one big difference.

His eyes were red.

Not red like tired bloodshot red, red like the pupil was the color of rich human blood. He'd seen a few ghosts with red eyes-Vlad being the main one- but there was only one he thought of at the moment, only one that had that specific deep hue. His future self. Of the people in the lab, only Jazz could know what he was thinking, and she sucked in a breath as he stared at the mirror, lost.

"Danny, just try to relax. That's not you. It's just the chemical, a side effect. It has to be." Danny dropped to the ground, his eyes frozen wide.

"What if it's not? What if…" The end of his question died on his lips, but the implication was obvious. Jack finally came back down the stairs, muttering to himself and waving around the Jack-o-Nine-Tails.

"I'll get those ghosts or my name's not Ja-what?" Both women had turned to glare at him, but Danny had barely noticed the return of his father. He finally slowly set the mirror down on the nearest table and floated up, past Jack and up the stairs. As soon as he left, he could hear his mother scolding Jack and Jazz trying to calm them all down. He noticed the clock- and his mind snapped back to Danny Fenton, the fourteen year old boy about to be late.

"7:42? Crud, I'm gonna be late!" He frantically searched for his backpack, and luckily found it on the stool before turning back to Danny Fenton for a moment, slinging it on. The boy realized he was still holding the paper the vulture had given him, so he just stuffed it in his pocket for later. Danny quickly shifted back to his ghostly form, but felt a bead of icy sweat roll down his forehead with the effort of changing forms so fast. He shook it off as he took to the air, his backpack invisible on his black jump-suited back.

_I don't want to miss my last day of school…_

* * *

><p>AN And, there's the next chapter. I realized the big flaw from the beginning-why can't he just stay human and do what he did in Memory Blank or Phantom Planet? (Okay, I suppose PP doesn't count, but still, it's the same idea.) Well, this was my solution. Plus, it's another reason for Danny to get mad at Vlad. I know he still hasn't confirmed to anyone which half he's staying with, but the hint at the start and the last sentence should make it pretty clear to you readers. So, now that it's summer, updates should come faster. By the way, this is actually the longest chapter so far. Doesn't seem like it, does it? Or, at least it doesn't to me. Rate and review, please!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N I told you I'd have this chapter up faster! I only half like this chapter, but on the bright side, Danny kicks Dash's butt! Enjoy.

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><p>Danny flew as quickly as he could, but could feel the strain of pushing himself so early in the day with the chemicals sliding through his veins. He was forced down to a height that he could be seen easily so he wouldn't have to constantly duck and dodge clouds, and he prayed that no news helicopters would be out this morning. He REALLY wasn't in the mood, not to mention wasn't sure what color his eyes would be. They were still sore, but it was more of a 'no sleep' sore then before. When he heard a nearly silent hiss, he spun around, whipping his head from side to side, paranoid.<p>

_Please don't be Valerie, please don't be Valerie…_ He saw nothing but a few trees rustling with the breeze. _Phew_. Danny checked the town clock tower far behind him, and could tell he only had about a minute to get to school, so he poured on as much speed as he could afford. When more icy sweat started pouring down his face, he finally slowed down. He didn't want to pass out or something like that. Then he'd be even later anyway.

Danny sighed in relief when he saw the building, but his wispy tail spit open into his legs as he suddenly felt heavy. Really heavy. He started falling, flailing his arms and legs. He bit his lip in an effort to not scream, and suddenly felt his normal weightlessness reappear approximately one second before hitting the bushes. The boy dropped down carefully into them, breathing hard. He squeezed his eyes shut, clenching his hands as he morphed back into Fenton just as the bell rang. Danny heard footsteps as he stood up, feeling the sticks and brush in his hair as a few kids pointed and laughed. Frowning, he tried to tug them out as he walked up the steps. Suddenly, he felt a large force shove him forward from behind, causing him to stumble into the stone steps.

"Woah!" Danny lost his footing, toppling over. Dash stepped out from behind him, and had a good laugh before sauntering the rest of the way up, making sure to kick dust in the fallen boy's face. As Danny pushed himself up, he suddenly had a thought.

_I have one last chance to put him in his place. Why not take it?_ Ignoring the feeling he'd been in this position before, Danny stood up again and strolled right up to Dash, plastering a big grin on his face.

"Hey, Dash!" At the mention of his name, the bully turned around.

"What do you want, Fen-toad?" Danny held out his hand.

"I just want to return the favor." Dash looked confused as he stared at Danny's hand-it looked like he wanted to shake. By this time, the halls were pretty much empty except for the boys, so Dash stuck out a hand.

"I don't know what game you're playing, but- YAAAH!" Danny had grabbed his hand and, summing all of his energy up, flipped the bully behind him. The boy hit the tile with a hard 'thud', and Danny just wiped his hands together, his grin shrunk to half of his face. He leaned over above Dash's face. He looked into the bully's half-lidded eyes and pushed his hand under him, using the quarterback's torso to pick him up and set him into a standing position, leaning Dash's body against the wall.

He pulled him down to be eye level and said, concentrating on making his voice hold the slight echo it did when he was a ghost, "Dash, don't mess with those who look weak. You'd be surprised what they can do." With that bit of wisdom dispersed, he shoved his hands into his pockets and walked to class, leaving Dash to wonder what the heck had just happened. Putting the bully in his place had drained him, but he didn't care. If he was lucky, it would be a while before Dash bullied any nerds. Danny had no idea why he'd done that, but it sure felt good, no matter what his tired body said. He finally walked into Mr. Lancer's class, and everyone instantly turned their heads. Mr. Lancer shot him with a disapproving glare.

"Mr. Fenton, is there a reason you're late?" Danny opened his mouth, then realized how massively he would have to lie and just closed it again and shook his head.

"No, Mr. Lancer." The teacher sighed.

"Take your seat. One more late will be a detention." Nodding, Danny quickly sat down. Both Sam and Tucker shot him confused glances, but he just mouthed, 'tell you later' to them both. "Before Mr. Fenton interrupted, I was saying that the tests have been graded and I'll hand them back now." He picked up a thick sheet of papers, dropped them on the desk to get them organized, then started handing the names out alphabetically. When he got to 'Dash Baxter', everyone looked for him. Danny unconsciously slid down in his sheet. Shouldn't he be here by now? Shrugging, Mr. Lancer just moved on to the next paper. When he called Danny's name, he stood up carefully, walking over on halfway wobbly legs.

"Good job, Danny." Mr. Lancer muttered, pointing to the high 'B' on the top of the paper. Danny grinned, taking it. Mr. Lancer turned back to his sheet, calling "Tucker Fol-" Suddenly, the door creaked open. Dash walked in, glaring at Danny. The football player rubbed his letter jacket clad back, stalking over to his seat and dropping down into it heavily. Everyone stared at him for a moment before turning back to talking with friends. Mr. Lancer, however, beckoned the boy over as Danny sat down again. After teacher and student talked for a minute, he was handed his essay and sat back down. Danny braced himself for his name being called, closing his eyes tightly. Dash must have told. Why had he even _done_ anything that stupid?

"Tucker Foley." Danny popped his eyes open. That was a relief. Suddenly he realized something-even if Dash wanted to get Danny in trouble, there was no way Lancer-or anybody else, for that matter-would believe that skinny Danny Fenton could pull off a trick even close to that. Not to mention, Dash had pride and a reputation to hold up. It didn't mean Danny

was going to try anything else dumb, but it was at least some comfort.

When Sam's name got called, Danny walked over to her desk with Tucker close behind. "What did you get?" Danny asked. She held out her sheet with 'A-' in red on the top. Tucker snapped his fingers and pulled out his own sheet.

"A 'B' for me. You, dude?" The techno geek asked Danny. The halfa nodded.

"Me too." He absently waved his hand over the red score on top of his paper.

"Good job Danny!" Both Sam and Tucker said at the same time. He grinned.

"You both did great too. I think this is probably one of the best scores I've gotten that's not a retake since I started fighting ghosts." They both nodded in acknowledgement. He wanted to tell them something else and cracked his lips open, but hurriedly shut them, biting his lower lip. _Not yet_. Both of his friends noticed, but decided not to push him on it. At least, not yet.

"So, Danny... How did your parents take it?" Despite Sam's casual tone, from the way her and Tucker leaned forward, they'd obviously been waiting for his answer since he'd told them he was going to tell his parents. Danny took a deep breath and glanced around the room.

"I'll tell you at lunch, okay?" Both of his best friends looked at each other.

"Fine." Sam said, checking over her paper. Tucker turned to Danny.

"Which ones did you get wrong?"

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><p>Danny spent the rest of the morning in a state of semi-terror that Dash or one of his goons would come after him, but surprisingly, nothing happened. By the time lunch rolled around, Danny had finally started to breathe easy. Today was some sort of turkey substitute for the meal. Sam gave it a disapproving glare, but turned to Danny. Both Sam and Tucker said to him at the same time, "Spill." Danny sighed, taking a bite of the 'turkey' and grimacing before swallowing it down thickly and starting.<p>

"They're fine with it. I showed them an article on Danny Phantom from the paper, transformed, then flew them up to the roof. But you're never going to believe what happened this morning."

"What?" Tucker asked, with Sam a split second behind. He grinned at her before both of their attentions turned back to Danny.

"Vlad destroyed the portal." Purple and blue eyes widened. "Yea, he sent those ghost birds to do it. I think they used some kind of explosive, but by the time I got there, Jazz and dad were trying to get them, the portal was already gone." Suddenly, Danny remembered the note. "One of them gave me this." He dug it, crumpled but unharmed, out of his jean pocket.

"Well, open it!" Sam said impatiently. Danny did just that, reading it over. He whispered it out loud.

"'Dear Daniel, this was just so you don't get any ideas. We don't want you cheating, now do we?'" That was it-a short note in Vlad's neat cursive. Danny clutched it in his fist, narrowing his eyes. "He didn't want _me_ cheating? _Me_?" Sam reached over a hand to Danny's shoulder.

"Danny… um…" Tucker just came out and said it, albeit in a worried tone.

"Dude, your eyes…" Danny instantly dropped the note and raised a hand to his eye.

"Not again…" At his friend's confused glances, he explained in a hurried tone. "This happened this morning too…" He got up and rushed out of the cafeteria, into the bathroom. His fears were confirmed when he glanced into the mirror and his eyes were red like before-but it was worse. Now, not only were they red, they were fully red, like Vlad's. Rather than just being a color of the pupil like his normal blue or ghostly green, the red completely covered his eyes. It felt odd, and everything was starting to tinge a light shade of scarlet. Danny splashed water on his face, trying to calm down. When he heard noise behind him, the halfa instinctively whipped around. His fingers gripped the wet sink when he saw the culprit. _Oh… crud…_

"H-hi Dash…" The larger boy just took a step forward, his eyes narrowed.

"How did you do it?" Danny gulped, laughing nervously.

"Do what?" At those two words, Dash practically leapt forward.

"You know what I mean!" He pinned Danny against the wall. Danny gulped again.

"Well, uh…" He looked up at Dash, and suddenly felt his eyes burn for a moment, everything turning deep red for a split second before fading back to the light tinge of red. "Ah!" Dash stumbled backwards.

"What the he-how did you do THAT?" Danny had an idea, and prayed that Dash was superstitious.

"I'm your… demon. Dan-the kid has nothing to do with this. I'm a… warning, Dash Baxter. Don't hurt too many kids, unless you want to… meet me face to face!" He was making it up on the spot, but Dash seemed to believe it, His face was terrified. Danny would've laughed if his butt wasn't on the line. "Now, leave." Danny grinned as Dash turned to get out. _A parting gift, for all those years of bullying._ He shot an ecto-blast at Dash, and it hit the bully right on the behind. He yelped loudly, making his name true as he dashed out.

When Danny turned back to the mirror, his good mood evaporated when he saw that the red was still glowing strong. Ducking into one of the stalls, he tried to turn into Phantom, hoping a change would help. A quick check in the mirror revealed his normal ghostly self, but with blue eyes.

"Well, it's better than red... what's up with my eyes anyway? It seems to be honing in on those alone…" Shrugging, he checked that no one was around before making the switch again. This time, his eyes were green, but a normal shade-they weren't glowing. "I guess this will have to do." He exited the men's room and went back to the cafeteria. Danny headed right back to his table, but Sam and Tucker were both looking at the popular table. Dash seemed to be telling some sort of story, with large arm motions. When Danny passes, he looked up, and his eyes widened. The quarterback half-scooted back, his face almost scared. Danny dropped his gaze, feeling too tired to put up more of a show. He heard Kwan say,

"Dude, Fenton looks like he can't hurt a fly! Are you on drugs or something?" Danny smiled a little at that-one advantage of having a secret identity? No one believes those who glimpse the truth. He dropped himself down back into his seat with his friends, who looked at him with one eye raised.

"So, what happened?" Sam asked. Danny pointed to his eyes.

"My eyes scared Dash, so I had to make up something fast. Now he thinks I was a vessel for his 'demon'. On the plus side, he won't be beating up any nerds for a while…" Tucker high fived him at that. Sam gave him one of her 'you're going to get in trouble for this' looks.

"Danny, you-" He waved it off.

"Sam, it won't matter. The other popular kids think he's crazy now." He decided to tell them. No use delaying it, if he'd already decided. Danny leaned forward, and Tuck and Sam did the same. "Besides… after today… Danny Fenton's going to be pulling a disappearing act." Sam gasped and Tucker gulped.

"Are you sure about this, bud?" The geek said slowly. Danny nodded.

"I'm sure. Who's better for the town, Danny Fenton the unpopular nerd or Danny Phantom, the hero?" Sam grabbed his hands.

"It's not the town that's important. What do _you_ want, Danny Fenton?" He blushed slightly and gently pulled his hands away.

"I want to help people. If I need to become full ghost to do that, then so be it. If there's a cure, I'll take it, but if it comes down to it..." She nodded slowly.

"Well, it's your choice… hero."

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><p>AN And, there's chapter 7! It seems boring to me, despite everything with Dash… hopefully it'll pick up next chapter. Danny has more reasons then 'the town needs me' to stay a ghost, but I'll bring those up later. I hope you enjoyed, and please rate and review! I want to know what everyone thinks, critiques welcome!

Edit: I just want to say, if you review anonymously and you have an account, could you mention it, so can I know what it is and respond to your review? If you ask something, then I can answer it. If you don't have an account, well, thanks for the review anyway, I still appreciate it no matter what.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N I like the start… it seems like something from an episode to me. A little humor is always good in a story like this in my opinion, as long as it doesn't bring down the whole mood. I know by 'Eye for an Eye' that gym class is right before lunch, but it's such a small time change, I don't think it'll be an astronomical problem in keeping this canon. This is a fanfiction after all, and in no way meant to be completely perfect, no matter how much my mind tries to keep it that way. I hope you like this chapter! (By the way, I've never written for the Box Ghost, but his name _is_ capitalized, right?)

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><p>"Move those lazy feet, Fenton!" Barked out the gym teacher. Danny panted as he ran the extra lap, punishment for arriving late. As usual, no one came to his defense, but Sam had volunteered to run with him.<p>

"Just a few more feet!" She encouraged, easily passing the starting point before turning back to him. Danny followed a moment later, panting.

"That would have been easier… if I wasn't exhausted…" At that comment, Sam blinked.

"Why are you tired? We didn't really do much today before now… I know you flew to school, but-" He raised a still green eye and pointed to it, giving her a 'duh' look.

"Vlad's little gift, remember?" She raised a slender finger to her bottom lip, grinning sheepishly.

"Oh, right." Tucker walked over, pointing at the rack of balls their grinning teacher was dragging to the center of the room.

"Guys, I'd advise getting out of the way… it's dodgeball." Danny nodded.

"Thanks for the warning, Tuck." He backed up a little, half hiding behind the bleachers as the more athletic kids rushed to the center of the room. After taking a passing glance back at Danny, Sam ran to the middle while Tucker joined him behind the bleachers.

"Dude, you okay? You look pale." Danny just gave him the same evil eye Sam had gotten moment earlier. "Sorry, standard question…"

"It's okay. Well, not really. It's starting to get worse. Bu-"

"What are you two doing back here? Get in the game!" The menacing adult lifted them both up by the back of their shirts and dropped them in front of the bleachers, glaring at Danny for a moment before walking off. Danny heaved a big sigh.

"Great. Now I'm going to remember my last day in high school for eternity as the day I was-woah!" He dodged a dull red rubber ball by an inch, bending his body forward and letting it pass behind him. "Okay, less talking, more dodging!" He ducked another ball, this time from a football player whose name he didn't remember. Danny dashed away, another rubber weapon flying towards his old spot. He thought for a moment, then pulled Tucker with him. "Two targets are harder than one, right?"

"Two is easier!" Danny jumped up, almost performing a half split in midair.

"You know how bad I am at math!" He griped. "Geez, is there a target on my forehead?" Tucker spared a glance at his friends face and chuckled.

"Yep! A glowing one!" Danny jumped to the left.

"Not funny, Tuck!" Tucker managed to grab one.

"Oh, c'mon! You were asking for that one!" He chucked it into the fray, and saw Nathan trudge dejectedly out. "Hey, I think I hit someone!" Danny saw Kwan and Dash high-five and point at the boy, laughing.

"Tuck, that wasn't you." The geek shoved his hands into his gym shorts.

"Aw, man…" Danny looked to the clock. Fifteen minutes until they could leave to change. He bent backwards into a limbo position to duck two balls at once. This was going to be a long fifteen minutes…

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><p>When class finally let out, Danny had gotten hit four times, and his chest was both bruised and sore. Luckily, gym was last period, so he could go home and… well, probably work on the cure, but that was better than school by far. He told Sam and Tucker to go without him, he wanted to walk alone and enjoy the day. Danny lingered in the shower, taking his time and letting his muscles relax. After he got out and pulled his clothes back on, he left school slowly, taking a second glance in all the rooms. The boy stopped at the cafeteria, remembering the first real lengthy ghost fight he'd ever been in.<p>

"Wow. I never thought I'd miss the smell of burnt turkey." Sighing, he trudged out through the front doors, taking a last look at the building before starting home. Danny walked as slowly as he could, trying to enjoy the feel of the gentle breeze tickling his exposed arms and rustling his hair. He sighed, but happily this time.

"People don't enjoy the simple things in life until it's under threat of disappearing…" Danny muttered to himself, jamming his hands in his jean pocket, brushing a rubber band and a piece of string. From experience, ghosts couldn't feel things like breezes and temperature changes unless it was extreme. Danny tilted his head up, drinking in the warm sunlight. That was another thing he'd miss, feeling the sun after a cool day. He knew how much he was giving up, but he also knew that he'd go through life with too much regret to live with if he gave up being the protector of the town. After all, if he didn't, who would?

"Beware!" Danny sighed and turned his head to the right. Of course, as soon as he'd had a deep moment, Box Ghost had to show up. By now, it was pretty much clockwork. Danny was in a bad mood, bam, there he was.

"Look, can we just get this over with?" He jumped behind a tree and transformed, ignoring the numb feeling in the pit of his stomach. The pesky ghost held up his hands, dangling a long strip of bubble wrap.

"I will destroy you with my bubble wrap of doom!" At that, Danny just sighed and shot a ghost ray at him, but to his surprise, Box Ghost dodged it.

"Oh, you're actually going to try this time?" Danny asked, holding one hand about six inches above the other, letting an ectoplasmic energy ball build up. "Well, more fun for me then." From his tired voice, it was obvious he wanted to just beat the ghost quickly and leave. Being his usual oblivious self, the Box Ghost just blinked and flew toward Danny, holding out the bubble wrap like a very long shield. Danny chucked the energy ball at him, and this time it melted through the wrap and hit him in the stomach. Danny's old 'enemy' flew back, hitting a tree, but getting up quickly. Danny grabbed his side, panting.

"Hah! I shall still defeat you!" The halfa forced his eyes up, which widened when he saw the moving van next to their little battleground. Box Ghost noticed it too, and grinned, flying over and fazing through the door on the back. Danny poked his head through and dropped his head, shaking it slowly.

_Great… Now I have to deal with this moron._ He flew through the side of the van and right up to the Box Ghost. "Look, really. Can we do this in a few days when I'll have nothing else to do?" The response to his statement was a box to his gut, knocking the wind out of him as he hit the side of the van. "I'll take that as a no…" Danny rummaged around and pulled the Fenton thermos out of his belt. (He didn't get where it was when he was a human either, but it sure was useful that one always seemed to be in his jumpsuit.) "Well, let's finish- Oh, come on!" The older ghost had flown through the roof.

"That's it!" Danny shot after him, a sudden rush of adrenaline just what he needed. Box Ghost had three boxes floating around him, but Danny shot holes in all three of them. Dully, he noted that they were pretty close to his house, but he wanted to finish this himself. He lit up his hands with energy, but somewhere in the back of his head he knew that the rush had quickly worn off as he shot a huge energy blast at the Box Ghost. While he was trying to get up, Danny sucked him into the thermos. He felt all of his energy leave him in a rush, and dropped down to the sidewalk before fazing through diagonally and landing in the lab. He saw his mother and father hunched over a table, and there was something lighting up their faces green, likely glowing ectoplasm. Danny landed on the floor without a sound, accidentally falling halfway through the blue tile.

"Hi mom… hi dad." He muttered, his vision starting to fog. Maddie, then Jack instantly turned around as Danny tried to weakly push himself up.

"DANNY!" Both parents rushed forward as Danny fell back down. The boy felt himself lifting up as his eyes slid shut and he lost consciousness.

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><p>Danny awoke on the couch, and it took a moment for him to remember what had happened. When he did, he bolted up, knocking a blanket off of him. Looking down, he was human again.<p>

"Settle down. You've only been out of it ten minutes." came a soft voice from next to him. Looking over, Jazz was smiling warmly at Danny, setting her book in her lap and gazing intently at him. "Care to tell me what happened? All we know is that you fell into the lab and passed out. Long day?" Danny heaved a big sigh.

"Long day." He agreed. "But… actually, I need to talk to the whole family about this." He pushed himself up, and smiled weakly when it was easy. "I guess I just needed a rest..." Jazz held out a hand to help him, but he pushed it away. "I can do it myself." Danny stood up, his knees still a bit shaky but overall feeling much better. He made his way down to the lab, with Jazz following right behind him.

As soon as she heard noise on the steps, Maddie rushed over. "Sweetie, are you okay?" Danny nodded as she pulled him into a hug. "Thank goodness, you gave us such a fright!" Danny gently pulled himself away as his dad walked up.

"What happened?" Jack asked in a confused tone. Danny motioned for them to sit down. Jazz pulled up a chair, and the Fenton parents followed suit.

"Well, I had to fight a ghost on the way home, nothing special, but I think the chemicals he injected me with have started draining my energy. I've been feeling tired all day, but I need to say this. If I have to choose…" All three pairs of eyes widened, but Jazz was unknowingly shaking her head. She knew already what he would say. "Then… I think I would have to stay ghost." Maddie gasped, her eyes widening further. Jack's mouth fell open.

"W-why?" Maddie asked slowly.

"Well… I think the town needs me."

"We need you more!" She almost yelled, with Jack nodding frantically. Danny hung his head.

"I'm sorry… but this would be what I need to do." He looked up. "It's the last resort. Have you had any progress?" Maddie glanced back at the table they'd been at when Danny had fallen in earlier.

"Almost none… we've never seen anything like your DNA. You're probably the only half human, half ghost in existence!" _Well, now's as good a time as any to bring up who did this to me…_

"Um, mom? Do you want to know who did this to me?" She whipped her head around and jumped up right in front of her son.

"Of course! Who?" Danny rubbed the back of his neck, trying to figure out how to word it. He figured to just go for broke and flat out say it.

"Well, there's another half ghost. You know him, actually." At that, Jack stood up.

"Who? I'll take care of him!" Danny laughed nervously.

"Actually, he's a friend of yours…." Danny gulped and took a deep breath. "….it's Vlad. Vlad Masters."

"WHAT?" Yelled Jack and Maddie at the same time. Maddie looked disgusted, but Jack just looked plain shocked.

"He got his powers from the portal accident when you were in college. He used them to help get money, making him the billionaire he is. We've kind of been rivals for a while… and I guess he finally wanted to get rid of me for good. Actually…" He dug the note out of his pocket, glad he'd thought to keep it after the incident in the bathroom. "Those birds that exploded the portal are his." He handed the paper to his mother. She read over it, her mouth hanging slightly open. Jack stood behind her, and she whispered it out loud to him. Her fingers gripped the paper like it had threatened her.

"But why…" She seemed at a loss for words. "Why that…"

"Vladdie would never do something like that!" Jack protested. Danny knew that his father would take some convincing.

"Dad, Vlad's the Wisconsin ghost, Vlad Plasmius. He ruined the reunion, and trapped us in that cage when Danny Phantom was under reward, which he set up by the way to make you look bad. He's tried to kill me on multiple occasions, when he's not trying to get me to abandon you and become his son. Shall I go on? He's the bad guy, dad. Mom, you know."

"I know he's a creep, but… how could he?" Maddie said slowly, almost quietly.

"I don't know. I hate him, but even I can't figure him out. I do know that he is a creep… seriously, he actually tried to clone me! And mom…" _Well, I'll tell her about the Maddie system later… that might be too much right now…_ "Do you get it? Vlad is just plain bad news." Maddie nodded, but Jack still couldn't believe it.

"I can't believe that Vladdie would do anything like that…"

"Well, believe it, dad. Actually, he overshadowed the voters. Technically, he shouldn't even be the mayor. A lot of the bad stuff that has happened since he became mayor have been his fault." Danny sighed again. "I have a million other examples, but I'd prefer not. It would take a while."

"Honey… how did he get you anyway?" Maddie gulped, her lavender eyes wide. "I knew you didn't like him, so why were you even near him?" Danny shrugged.

"I needed to steal his chemicals. It was just a usual thing."

"Oh…" It finally seemed to hit Jack.

"All this time… he was _bad_?"

"Yea." Danny replied, breathing a sigh of relief. His dad had a stony expression.

"But why? It's not like you're a threat…" This time, it was Maddie again. She was just trying to figure out all this new information out.

"Well, he doesn't really hate ME specifically. Mom, you know how he feels about you," Maddie nodded with tight lips, biting the lower one, "But he DOES hate dad with a passion. I've had to save him," He pointed at Jack, "More than once."

"Danny, how come you never said anything?" Maddie asked frantically.

"Well, if I told you his secret, he told everyone mine. We always held a reluctant truce on that." His mother pulled him into another tight hug.

"Well, you have us now. No more secrets." Danny sighed happily, uncharacteristically enjoying the hug while it lasted before he spoke, agreeing.

"No more secrets..."

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><p>AN And there you have it, chapter 8. I hope you enjoyed. Vlad's secret is out. Danny's parents are still trying to get over the shock of their old friend (Well, Jack's old friend at least) being evil, so the fact that Danny wants to stay ghost really hasn't hit home yet. With every chapter I lose readers, so please rate and review whether you have an account or not!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N I'm really sorry for the late update. I have an excuse though-My family dragged me to a cabin in the middle of nowhere. When I got back, I discovered pearl94 and read through all of her stories. (She has the best DP stories ever, go read them, I bid you!) This chapter is kind of for phantoms-apprentice96, she'll know why when she reads it. Oh, and _9 reviews_. I freaking love you guys, I'm so glad you like this. I hope you like this chapter… I had to keep editing and reediting it...

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><p>Danny slowly slid out of his mother's grasp and looked at Jazz. She nodded, a small smile gracing her lips, before he turned back to his mother.<p>

"I don't want to have to choose, because then Vlad wins." His mother nodded slowly.

"Can you help us with the tests? It'll be more likely to work if we can try them on you." Danny automatically tensed.

"It won't hurt, will it?" Maddie shook her head.

"No, we just need to you to explain things to us, maybe test a few chemicals to see if they affect you."

"Well, okay…" Danny paused. "Will I need to go ghost?" His mother nodded.

"It would certainly help." Danny reached deep within himself, but jolted back when he noticed the top ring turned red as it passed before his eyes. Glancing down revealed his ghost form, seemingly normal, but the odd color change shook him more then he wanted to admit.

"…That's not normal, is it?" Maddie asked, her motherly voice lanced with concern. Danny shook his head, slowly levitating.

"Well, what can I help with?" The halfa asked, cocking his head. He didn't want to dwell on the rings. His mother shook off the discomfort at seeing the red ring and walked over to a table.

"Well… I thought of a few simple tests, so we can compare your strength and powers to what they usually are. However, I'm not sure how we can-" Danny laughed.

"That's easy." He floated over to a table that had cupboards on the bottom, and turned his hand intangible, reaching in. He came out with a silver remote that had a bunch of green buttons, along with a small red light. "Sam, Tucker and I set up a sort of training room here in the lab." He pressed the furthest button to the left on the top, and a bunch of hoops descended from the ceiling. "What do you need to test?" He sounded surprisingly happy, but it could be that he could finally really show off to his parents what he could do.

"How many little gadgets do you have in here?" Danny grinned nervously.

"Around twenty…" She pressed another button, and a cardboard ghost popped up from the wall. She pressed it again, and there was a cutout of Jazz, holding her arms up and yelling. Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "That one was a joke…"

"Did you make all this yourself?" Jack asked, his voice obviously curious.

"Well, Sam and Tucker helped. It was mostly me and Tuck, but Sam found the hiding places for the stuff." Maddie pressed a few more buttons, marveling.

"Wow, this is actually pretty impressive…" She muttered. "Okay, we need to test speed first."

"Oh!" Danny floated up to the ceiling and lifted up one of the tiles, grabbing a silver machine. When he dropped down, it looked like one of the speed trackers police use to catch speeders. "We used this." Maddie raised her eyebrow and when she spoke, there was a hint of 'disappointed parent'.

"Danny, how long have you been practicing in here? How did you hide this from us?" He was confused by her tone.

"Well, we made them about two months after the accident and a month after I decided to use them for good. I knew I needed to practice outside of actual ghost fighting." She shook her head sadly, but her next words showed that it wasn't at Danny.

"I can't believe we never saw it... it seems so obvious now!" Her violet eyes drifted to the floor before Jack laid a hand on his wife's shoulder.

"He fooled everyone, honey." Maddie shook her head, as if clearing it. She looked up, but her eyes still seemed filled with confusion. There was silence for a moment before Jazz finally spoke.

"Mom? Are you okay?" Her mother just waved it off, but hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"I'll be fine." Danny handed the speedometer to his dad, but was giving his mom worried glances the whole time as he floated back up.

"Should I go?" Jack nodded, holding up the tracker like a gun. Danny floated to the other side of the lab and shot straight down as fast as he could, just in front of the counter. It made a couple of beeps, then fell silent.

"107 miles an hour?" Jack asked, his voice filled with wonder. Danny's face fell.

"What? I haven't been that slow for a long time!" Jazz butted in.

"Wait, how fast were you last time you checked?" Danny shrugged, crossing his arms.

"Last check, somewhere around a hundred and fifty five." Both Fenton parents' eyes widened at that.

"That's incredible!" Maddie exclaimed. Danny grinned.

"Yeah, it is pretty cool, but it stinks that I'm slowing down. What next?" His mother grabbed a clipboard from a table.

"Strength. Do you have anything in here for that?"

* * *

><p>After spending a good amount of time running similar tests, Jazz finally managed to convince their parents to give a quickly fading Danny a break. As they gathered up their data to put it to good use, Jazz helped Danny up the stairs. He tried to make it up on his own, but from both the tiring day and the rigorous tests the ghost boy wasn't about to complain.<p>

"Thanks, sis." He muttered, collapsing into a chair and turning human again. He let his eyes slide closed as he did so, dropping his head back into the cushion. When he heard his sister gasp, he sighed and pried his baby-blue eyes open. "What?"

"Your shirt…" She said shakily. Danny pushed himself up and walked over to a mirror-and saw that the red oval in the middle of his shirt had changed into his normally white DP emblem.

"Well, that doesn't matter too much, right? It actually looks kinda cool…" Jazz rushed up to him and grabbed her little brother, spinning him around to face her.

"Danny, this means it's going faster! Why aren't you more worried?" He tilted his head.

"Of course I'm worried! I'm just better at not freaking about it. Besides… I'm too tired to care." Mentally, he added, …_And I've already sort of accepted it… that doesn't mean Vlad won't pay… no, be better than him._

"Danny, repressing it won't help anyth-"

"I KNOW!" Danny realized how loudly he was shouting and took a deep breath, trying again. "I… I know… but at this point it really doesn't matter, does it?" He heard footsteps on the stairs and winced, realizing just _how_ loud he'd been.

"Are you two okay? Danny, Jazz?" Jack asked, holding up the still tangled Fenton Fisher as menacingly as he could.

"We're fine." Danny said through gritted teeth.

"No, we're not. Danny, we need to talk this through!" Jazz said firmly. Their mother quickly stepped in the middle. Her determined gaze showed that she had something to say, and nothing was going to stop her from saying it.

"Danny, honey, Jazz is right. You really need to reconsider this. The town was just fine before the ghost boy appeared." Danny crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, there weren't any ghost attacks before _I_ opened the portal! It's my _responsibility_ to-" His mother cut him off.

"Danny, are you saying that all this time you fought ghosts because you thought they were your fault?"

"Of course not! It's just… I just can't ignore someone in need of help! I have my powers for a reason, and using them for good helps me so I know that… that I won't be like Vlad! Or… Or…" He trailed off, his eyes going glazed for a second before he snapped back. "I just can't turn off my conscience!" He paused for a moment, feeling all the stress shoving itself up and into his words before blurting, "All ghosts have obsessions. Well, maybe saving people is mine!" His mother finally spoke, and her tone sounded like the calm was strained and forced.

"Danny, only ghosts have obsessions. You're not just a ghost, you're also my little boy, and-"

"And I'm _part_ ghost! I don't just have powers, I'm half _dead_! I'm not just your son anymore; I'm part of a small species never meant to exist!" Danny exploded, his sudden bubbling anger flying off the handle. He could feel his cheeks burning with coldness, and he instinctively knew that they would be turning a light shade of blue-something that should worry him, but he didn't care. He unconsciously floated up, making his mother look up to meet his suddenly flaring red eyes. "I have a day left to _live_, do you understand? A day left to feel fresh air in my lungs, a day left to feel actual blood in my body!"

"Danny, you don't have to be a ghost!" Maddie almost yelled, obviously trying not to lose it like her son had. Realizing that this was between the two of them, Jack and Jazz backed off as some of the nearby furniture was bathed in the beginning of a light blue hue.

"YES, I DO! There's too many people counting on me!"

"I just wish you'd reconsider this! The town doesn't need you as much as _we_ do!" Tears had started brimming in her eyes, and Danny's anger went out like a light.

"Mom, I need to do this. I don't have a choice."

"You always have a choice, honey. I just wish you'd take the better one." Danny finally realized that he was floating and dropped to the ground, his eyes slowly sliding back to blue.

"Mom…" He couldn't think of anything else to say and just held his arms open. His mother rushed to him and squeezed him tightly to herself. She muffled choked sobs, regaining her composure.

"Danny… I love you no matter what. But I can't lose you. I've had to take in so much these last few days…"

"I know." He muttered, hugging her back. Deciding it was safe, Jazz stepped in.

"Danny, do you feel any better?" He sighed sadly.

"A little…" He gently pulled himself away from his mother's grasp and glanced at the clock. _Only 8… _He rubbed the back of his neck, unsure what to say. From the look in his mother's eyes, he knew that this conversation wasn't over. He slowly walked past her and dropped down into the end of the couch, kicking his shoes off.

"So… were the… tests helpful…?" Danny said slowly, looking at his father. Jack nodded.

"A little." Danny curled himself up, pulling his legs up and draping his arms over them. Jazz sat next to him, but both parents stayed standing.

"Can I talk to Danny for a minute?" Jazz said, her tone making her wish for privacy obvious. Glad for an escape from the rising awkward silence, both Fenton parents quickly headed back down to the lab. When they were out of sight, Jazz turned to her little brother, who was slightly shaking.

"Danny, why didn't you tell me that you felt that way?" He sighed, pulling his hands up to wrap them around his arms.

"I was trying not to think about it." Danny turned his gaze out to the window, and the street. The gentle glow of the streetlight suddenly flickered out, making it difficult to see anything. If he had been the philosophical type, he might have considered it a metaphor for his life at the moment. Without a word, he stood up and took a step towards the kitchen.

"Danny…" Jazz said, her voice wavering. No matter what her face said, it was obvious in her voice and eyes, she was close to losing her calm psychologist mask and melting into his extremely worried older sister.

"Jazz, I need some time alone, okay?" Danny said, his voice quiet and worn down. His hunched shoulders and half lidded eyes showed that at the moment he felt isolated and didn't want his sister's optimism. She nodded.

"I'll be right here when you want to talk." He let his lips curl up in the shadow of a smile, letting her know that he appreciated it. Trudging up to his room, Danny clicked his door open and more fell then jumped onto his bed. He squeezed his eyes shut, his emotions coming out in a flood all at once. Tears watered in his eyes, and he wiped them away once before letting them fall.

_Ghosts don't cry…_ He pushed that thought away as all that he would be losing flashed through his mind. First it was places.

_Fentonworks. The school. Nasty Burger._ Then it was memories.

_Meeting Tucker, meeting Sam. Playing with Jazz at the park. The first day of grade school. The first day of high school._ Finally, people.

Mom, Dad. Jazz. Mr. Lancer, Dash, Paulina. Valerie. Tucker. Sam… Danny clutched his sheets in his hands, the pain in his chest intensifying.

"If… if only I could tell them somehow…" Getting an idea, Danny sat up and wiped his eyes, transforming into Phantom before her could change his mind. He silently phased through the floor, landing in the lab and grabbing a camera on a tripod that his parents used to record how their inventions worked in case anyone was interested. He looked at his parents working on the other side of the lab and bit his lip, seeing his mom's red eyes. He resisted the urge to say sorry, knowing that there would be time to apologize later. He flew back up to his room and set his the blank side of his sheet over his closet, covering it and making a dark blue backdrop. Checking in his mirror and realizing that his sore, red 'crying' eyes hadn't transferred over to his ghost half, he set up the camera and took a deep breath before flipping it on.

"Hi. This is Danny Phantom, and I have something to tell all of you…"

* * *

><p>AN Wow, a cliffie I actually like! This chapter was heck for keeping Danny (and Maddie) in character, and I still don't like it all that much in that aspect. Otherwise, angst action! Any and all feedback appreciated, critique welcome. I love reviews whether you have an account or not. Okay, please rate and review, hopefully the next chapter will be up much sooner!


	10. Chapter 10

A/N Next chapter! This one has some padding, but it does have a point. As for what's in the video Danny was making… well, you'll find out later. *evil chuckle*

* * *

><p>Danny didn't even keep track of how long he kept talking, but quickly wrapped up when the light showing how much time there was left began to blink red. He pressed the small green button that ended the recording with a sigh, ejecting the disk. He opened his closet, let the blanket fall, and flew up, then placed the disk in a small shoe box that held a few secret objects that he'd never shown anyone. No one would find it until he gave it to them. Checking his clock, the blinking red light informed the halfa it was 8:52. Jumping back on his bed, still ghost, Danny decided to morph back. Like before in the lab, it took more energy and time then he liked, but he was back to his human form quickly enough. He took a second to consider before picking up his phone and dialing Tucker's number. He knew the techno geek would still be awake. He picked up on the second ring.<p>

"Hey dude. Where were you after school? Home?" Danny started playing with his shirt, noticing the black trim on the bottom.

"Yeah. My folks wanted to do a few tests to help with finding a cure. Say, Tuck? Do you think we could… you know… just hang out tomorrow?" There was dry silence for a moment before Tucker answered, somewhat hesitantly.

"I'd love to, but wouldn't you want to be working on the cure?" Danny waved it off.

"My parents are the scientists. I'll give them some samples. It'll only be for a few hours. So you will?"

"Sure, but-" Danny quickly interrupted.

"Dude, just trust me. I want to enjoy this time as much as I can, okay?" Danny knew Tucker would be nodding.

"Okay. Want me to tell Sam?"

"Sure. Meet at the Nasty Burger at… say, nine o' clock?"

"Sounds good. I'll see you there." Danny clicked the 'end call' button and let his head drop down unto his pillows. He hadn't really realized how tired he was until now. He sighed, curling his fingers into the mattress. Maybe he'd just rest… for a second…

* * *

><p>"Danny? Danny! Wake up!" Danny squeezed his eyes shut as his sister's voice assaulted his ears. Couldn't he rest for five minutes? Was that a crime? When slender hands started shaking him, Danny realized that he wouldn't be getting any more sleep and reluctantly pried his eyes open.<p>

"Whaaat?" He whined. When the teen rolled over, he saw his entire family staring at him. "Woah! Personal space, guys!" He realized that someone had pulled his covers over him, and gripped them tightly. "What's with the wake-up party?" Jazz was the one who answered.

"Danny, we've been trying to wake you up for ten minutes. You've been out like a light for almost eleven hours." At that, he shot straight up to a sitting position, hitting his skull on the headboard.

"_What_?" He started rubbing his head. "No way! I knew I was tired, but…" His mother jumped in.

"Your father and I figured it probably had to do with the chemical in your bloodstream altering your normal patterns. Since it disrupts your powers, it's only natural it should change your natural habits as well." She said very matter-of-factly. Seeing his mom, Danny suddenly remembered what had happened the night before and felt slammed with guilt for making her cry. He dropped his head, gripping the sheets even tighter.

"Mom… about last night… I'm sorr-" Maddie cut her son off by grabbing him in a tight hug.

"Don't be. I'm sorry too. Even if I don't agree with it, I shouldn't have… tried to force you like that. It's _your_ choice… even if I do wish different, you have every right to choose either side of you." Danny hugged her back.

"And _you_ had every right to say what you did. I guess I didn't consider your feelings when I decided, but I'm sorry. Can we forget it ever happened?" He could feel his mom nodding next to his shoulder.

"Of course, honey." Danny reminded of another similar scenario and grinned.

_So you have wished it… and so it shall be._ He added inside his head. He slowly pulled away from her. "What time is it?"

"It's…" His father paused for a moment before responding. "8:40." Danny quickly slid out of bed, about to rush over to his closet until he realized he was still in his clothes. He started flipping his head around quickly, looking for his shoes.

"I told Tucker I'd meet him by the Nasty Burger at nine! I'll be late!"

"Danny, you can fly there in two minutes, remember?" Jazz reminded him, suppressing a laugh. Danny blushed as he stopped rushing around.

"Oh yeah… right." Jazz quickly ushered their parents out and sat down on Danny's bed. She sighed.

"If mom and dad don't find the cure…" She looked up at her little brother, her teal eyes pleading. Danny walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'll be here as often as I can. That's the whole reason I was going to stay ghost. So I can protect the town _and_ stay as close to you guys as I can." Without warning, she grabbed him in a tight hug,

"Thanks, little brother."

"Anytime, sis." He fazed through her arms, smiling at her the whole time. "Even if I can fly, I don't want to be late." She nodded, also remembering a similar time that they had been like this, although much different from Danny's.

"Go." He ran down the stairs, noticing his dad eating Jack Fenton toast. He walked in, opened and opened a cabinet, then grabbed a cereal bar and took a bite.

"I'm going to hang out with Sam and Tucker. I'll be back in a few hours." He said around the food in his mouth before swallowing. "Do you guys need a blood sample?" His dad was about to respond, but Maddie shook her head.

"No, it's fine sweetie." Realizing she just didn't want him to be uncomfortable, Danny sighed.

"Mom, it's fine. The more I can do to help, the better."

"Well, if you insist, it _would_ help." His mother sighed. Danny ran down the stairs to the lab and quickly spotted a needle. He cleaned it off and, sucking in a deep breath, lightly slid it into his arm. He filled it almost all the way before gently pulling it out. He was a little worried out by how much green was in there- the combination of dark red and touches of glowing green looked like some sort of demented Christmas decoration. Shaking it off, Danny walked back upstairs, nibbling on the bar. He set the syringe on the table in front of his dad, who immediately grabbed it.

"Here you go." He noticed his shoes next to the couch and pulled them on before the teen walked out the front door. Checking his watch, the halfa looked both ways before quietly muttering "Going ghost." to himself as he morphed. He quickly took to the air, keeping a sharp eye out for Valerie or any unfriendly specters. Luckily, he made it to the fast food joint without incident.

After reverting back to human, Danny rechecked his watch, seeing that the time was five to nine. He headed out to the front of the restaurant, and grinned to see that Tucker was already heading up, with Sam right behind him. Tucker was messing with the stylus for his PDA and talking to Sam, and Sam was scanning the front of the restaurant, obviously not listening. Her eyes widened as she spotted Danny and she grabbed Tucker by his shirt, dragging him over to their friend.

"Hey, Danny!" She called. He waved at her.

"Hey, Sam, Tucker!" As they got nearer, Tucker tucked his PDA in his backpack. The action was almost touching for Danny, as Tucker rarely did it out of school unless they were fighting ghosts. Tucker suddenly pointed at Danny's chest.

"Nice shirt, dude." Looking down, Danny realized that his shirt was black, but with red rings on the sleeves and a red oval in the middle. It actually looked pretty cool.

"So, Danny. You wanted to see us?" Sam said, her voice curious. He nodded.

"Yeah. I just wanted to have some time to hang out before… you know…" He rubbed his neck nervously. Both of his best friends instantly caught his drift and nodded.

"So, what should we do? Video games? The mini-golf course? The movies?" Tucker asked. Danny shrugged.

"I really don't care. Mini golf sounds good." Sam nodded in agreement.

"Okay, let's go. If we hurry there we can be finished in time to make it to the mall for lunch."

"Sounds good to me!" Tucker said, grinning when Sam had mentioned 'lunch'.

"Shall we take the 'Phantom Express'?" Danny asked them, smiling at how easily they'd decided. Sam waved her hand in the air loosely.

"No, I'd rather walk." Danny looked to his male friend.

"You, Tuck?" The African American teen thought for a moment.

"Nah, I can walk too." Sam started walking towards the course, and the boys followed her.

"I bet I can beat both of you!" Tucker boasted. "I beat Sam before."

"No you didn't!"

"That was because Danny was messing with the ball!" Danny laughed, lightly elbowing his friend.

"You should've seen your face then, Tuck!"

They joked the whole way there, making the mile walk seem like nothing. Sam had to pay for all of them because Danny and Tucker forgot money, and they quickly got a game going.

Seventeen holes later, it was a tie between Sam and Danny, with Tucker two points behind. Tucker had already gone, and was quietly moping over his defeat while Danny set up his yellow ball.

"I've totally got this." Danny promised himself out loud as he swung the putter. The ball flew from the fake grass, just above the windmill, then hit the cup and bounced about an inch away from the hole. "Beat that, Sam!" She stretched her arms up and grinned, her teeth glinting in the sunlight. The goth set down her grass stained purple ball and took aim.

"Gladly." She hit the ball, and it slid through the windmill, hitting Danny's out of the way and rolling into the cup. She spun up the putter in her hand and blew the grass off the base. Danny was staring at it with his mouth hanging open.

"How did you…" He shook off his shock. "Aw, come on!" He ran over to the hole and tapped his ball in, sighing in mock sadness but grinning. "Great game!" Sam smiled back.

"Yeah. Should we go have lunch now?" Tucker jumped in.

"Now you're singing my song! Let's go!" He grabbed Danny and started pulling him away. Danny laughed and grabbed Sam's hand, who lightly blushed and started running with them.

* * *

><p>One greasy lunch (In Tucker and Danny's case, Sam had a veggie burger) at the Nasty Burger later, Danny couldn't have been happier. He didn't have days like this with his friends very often anymore, and he treasured them.<p>

"That was fun." He said out loud. Tucker and Sam both nodded. They'd enjoyed it too- fun time with Danny with no ghostly strings attached was scarce nowadays.

"We should do it more often." Tucker commented, until he remembered what was going to happen. He shrank a little in his seat, but Danny didn't really hear him.

"I want you guys to know… thanks. For everything. For always sticking by my side, no matter what." Sam leaned forward and grabbed his hands.

"We're your friends Danny, whether-" Danny grinned and finished her sentence with her, their voices mixing.

"-kicking back or kicking butt." He nodded happily. She let go of his hands and continued.

"We'll always be there for you. Whether you're Danny Fenton or Danny Phantom." Tucker nodded his approval.

"Always, dude." Danny flashed a big smile at both of them, and Sam started laughing.

"What?" She pointed at his mouth, holding a hand over her own to surpress her laughter.

"You have a big piece of tomato in your teeth."

* * *

><p>AN: Phew. Finished. Okay, I wanted to finish this before tomorrow, because I'm going to a cousin's wedding for a week halfway across the country. So, if you review after tonight, I probably won't respond for a while. So, what did you think? The exciting stuff restarts next chapter, but I admit it's kind of fun to play with the trio just relaxing and having fun. Please rate and review, I love hearing your opinions and the little bits of advice are always cool. See you!

~Shadowdib.


	11. Chapter 11

Danny wiggled his tongue over his teeth, successfully pulling the tomato off and chewing it. He swallowed while balling up his greasy wrapper. The teen carefully aimed it for the trash can about ten feet from their booth. He tossed with surprising precision, bouncing the homemade ball off of the back of the can and falling in.

"Woohoo! Fifty points!" He almost yelled, then sank down in his seat a little when a few people around them turned to look at him. His cheeks flared for a moment, but like the night before, they seemed more to hold of a cool chill then a warm flush.

"Uh, dude?" Tucker said uncertainly. "Your cheeks are-"

"Blue, I'm guessing?" Danny said with a sigh. The happy mood had all but evaporated. The other boy nodded. Danny put a finger to his left cheek, and came off with a little bit of ketchup and a feeling like he'd just dipped his finger in a bucket of ice.

"Well… that's… interesting." He said slowly, standing up. He licked the ketchup off his finger and looked at the doors.

"Do you want to go back home and see how your parents are doing?" Sam asked. Danny looked at her and smiled a little.

"How do you always read my mind?" She smiled back and stood up with him, happy he seemed to be getting over this new side effect.

"I've known you since kindergarten, Danny. I've picked up on a few things." Tucker balled up his napkin and wrapper as well (they were much more greasy then Danny's had been) and tried to chuck it into the trash. It almost missed, but hit the wall behind the can and fell in.

"Woo!" He cheered, holding up a hand for a high five. Danny quickly gave him one, slapping his friend's hand as hard as he could. "Dude, easy on the hand!" Tucker complained, laughing. Danny grinned back.

"If you can't take the high five, get out of my way!" All three of them chuckled at that as they walked out. Sam dumped her trash in a bin outside as they headed back to Fentonworks.

* * *

><p>The walk was uneventful, and they chattered about nothing the whole way back to Danny's house. When they finally stood under the gigantic neon sign, they walked in together like always- Danny in front, Sam and Tucker right behind him. When he arrived, practically the first thing he saw was the massive bright orange bulk of his father's hazmat suit.<p>

"Danny! You're home!" The man said quickly and excitedly before he picked up his only son with ease, squeezing him into a hug. Danny was curious why his father seemed so excited, but for the moment put all of his efforts into breathing and making sure the over-eager parent wouldn't crush his ribs. He could hear Tucker and Sam trying desperately not to laugh at Danny's sudden forceful push back to when he was a little kid.

"Uh… Dad?" Danny practically squeaked out. "I… can't…. breathe…" He tried to push himself off, and his father finally put him down a second later.

"Danny-boy, we've found it!" It took Danny a moment to realize what Jack was talking about.

"You've… found it?" His jaw dropped open. They had actually found a cure? "A… a cure?" His voice was full of disbelief. Jack nodded vigorously. Danny stood stock still for a moment before Sam tackled him into a hug, with Tucker following a moment later. Both of his friends started laughing, relief overflowing in their voices. It took their contact to his body for a wide smile to finally break out on Danny's face as he started laughing too, the momentary trance broken.

_Everything's going to be okay...? Everything's going to be okay!_ He laughed even more, his body shaking with happiness. They stayed there for a moment, until Danny suddenly broke away.

"Where are Mom and Jazz?"

"Down in the la-" Jack started, but Danny had already shot out of the living room. His friends followed him, grins decorating their faces. They heard Danny race down the stairs- he was obviously pulling out a little ghostly speed because he'd never gone that fast as a human before- but suddenly skidded to a halt at the sight of the lab, or more specifically, Maddie and Jazz. Maddie had ectoplasm spotting the lab coat over her hazmat suit, along with the blue showing underneath. Danny didn't even seem to notice as he practically launched himself into her arms.

"M-mom… you f-found it?" His voice was shaky, like he was on the verge of tears. His mother ran her fingers through his hair before gently pulling him off of her.

"Danny… there's a… complication." He looked at her, his eyes flashing green for a split second at her somber tone as his heart started to sink.

"C-complication?" Maddie's heart had almost ripped in half at Danny's joyous expression when he'd hugged her.

"We _did_ find something that could counter it…" But that was good, right? …then why was she so depressed about it? His heart moved down to his stomach as the lower organ clenched nervously. "…But it takes time for the components to mix properly with each other."

"H-how long?" His desperation was starting to show in his face. Maddie's eyes were dull as she replied to her son's practically whispered question.

"Twelve hours… and we just finished it a minute ago. Your father ran upstairs and he must have told you before I realized how long it needed to settle." Danny looked at his watch, and his heart dropped to his shoes. The green blinking numbers seemed like an ominous countdown.

_**2:34**_. He stumbled back.

"No… no!" The first word was whispered, but the second sounded like he was choking. To have known all along that his fate was sealed was one thing, but to raise his hopes, only to rip them apart again… he couldn't believe it. "No…" Danny felt like he was being dunked in a tank of ice and someone was holding him under. The cold sensation spread through his body, and everyone in the lab gasped.

Danny started floating in the air, clenching his fists and holding his eyes shut. His still human body was surrounded by a bright blue glow, which Sam and Tucker recognized from the first time they'd seen him after he'd mastered his ice powers. They didn't know how he was doing it while human, but everyone almost in sync ducked as he flew up and out of the lab with a loud crack. Sam, being the first to look up, realized that he'd left a large patch of ice on the ceiling, dripping down into the floor. It took everyone a moment to realize what had just happened.

"He's…" Sam began, but Jazz interrupted.

"He's not going to be in his right mind. We need to find him before someone sees him flying around." Her voice told everyone how worried Danny's older sister really was. "If someone sees a human flying around…"

"At that speed, no human will get close enough to see it's Danny Fenton. Besides, his clothes are-"

"He still has his jeans and sneakers, not to mention his hair. Unless he flies above the clouds, and his lungs won't be able to take that…" Sam said, worried, before her lavender eyes flared angrily. "We need to find him. Now."

"That's what I said." Jazz muttered before running up the stairs. The rest of them ran after her, and they almost barreled into Jack, who was about to head down the stairs.

"Honey, what happ-" Maddie just grabbed the fabric on his chest and dragged him along with them.

"I'll explain in the GAV. We need to find Danny!" They all fell over each other getting into the Assault Vehicle, and Jack slammed his foot into the gas pedal before Maddie handed him the keys. He took them with a sheepish grin before turning the van on, then flooring it again.

"What happened? I told Danny we found the cure, then a minute later a glowing blue blur shot out of the lab!"

"Jack, we didn't find the cure with enough time for it to work. When I told Danny, he was devastated, and flew out of the lab. He's still a human, he could get hurt, or be seen!" Maddie responded frantically. Suddenly, they heard a faint scream-from the forest on the edge of the city, as they saw a sudden rustle from the trees there. All the color left drained from the faces of the three teens. There was no way they could hear that far, unless…

"His ghostly wail… " Sam whispered. "He can't do that when he's a human! It could kill him!" Both Fenton parents looked at them, confused. Sam quickly explained it to them.

"He has an attack he calls his ghostly wail-it turns his screams into ectoplasmic waves somehow. But it's his most powerful attack, and it takes enough energy that he almost always has to turn back human when he uses it." Her worry leaked into her voice.

"He must have gone ghost… right?" Tucker said, his tone mirroring Sam's.

"The way he's probably thinking? There's no way to be sure." Jazz chimed in, sounding the most worried of them all. At that, Jack slammed his foot down harder and started swerving around stray pedestrians. For once, they were all glad for his crazy driving as the suburbs started coming into view. Everyone's thoughts were in perfect sync.

_Hold on, Danny…_

* * *

><p>Jazz was right-Danny wasn't thinking clearly. Having everything come crashing down finally seemed to bring home one simple fact to Danny-he couldn't live in both worlds anymore. There was no Danny Fenton now-he was dead, gone, kaput. With all of his stress running his powers high, he'd transformed almost automatically to give himself extra speed as he flew like one of the rockets he so loved away from his former home. Tears were leaking out of his eyes, but he didn't notice. He shot into the woods, finally dropping when he thought he was far enough, not realizing that he was only about two hundred feet into the trees. He almost collapsed into a heap, but instead welled up all of his energy and let out all of his tangled up emotions into one loud scream. The yell melted into his signature attack almost without him willing it. There was a big difference though- instead of purely green energy, every other ring was made of ice, and it felt like he was ripping his throat apart.<p>

Danny could feel how much it was draining him, but he didn't care. He wanted to be drained; he wanted to not have to deal with this. He finally stopped when he dropped to his knees, his ghostly form melting away as his tight jumpsuit melted away like plastic in an oven to reveal his newly black tee and jeans with black swirls lining the edges. He managed to keep on just his knees as his shoes changed back to sneakers, but they were still white. Without thinking, he yelled again, but only a weak fizzle of emerald jumped from his lips before it was simply a normal human scream. After a few seconds, he fell into his hands too, white hot pain ripping through his throat. He lifted one hand to his mouth and felt warm-yet somehow cool-liquid leaking out between his fingers, and the faint smell of iron assaulted his nose. He felt dizzy.

* * *

><p>They were almost to the forest, and Maddie had the sense to get Jack to slow down-in case Danny was on the ground, they didn't want to run him over.<p>

"Mrs. Fenton, we'll probably be able to find Danny faster on foo-" Sam said, but Jazz quickly yelped in interruption,

"There he is!" To their horror, a very human Danny (albeit with a small white streak in his black hair above his ear that looked like a lightning bolt) was clutching the grass with one hand and his mouth with the other. When they got a closer look, Maddie and Jazz bit their lips at seeing the tiny splashes of red blood mixed in with the ectoplasm. Maddie realized, deep on her scientific level, it made sense-using a ghost attack would make him bleed ectoplasm-but it didn't make it any less disturbing. Jazz and Sam were the first to approach Danny, who seemed to have barely noticed them.

"Danny?" Sam and Jazz said within a second of each other. They looked at each other, surprised by their sync, but quickly turned back to Danny. He barely flinched, staring at something ahead of them. Everyone followed his gaze and shocked gasps rang through the cool forest air.

The area in front of him had been completely demolished-but what was left of it had been totally covered in ice. Several layers of it, judging by the fact that it hadn't even started melting and the trees underneath were barely visible through the thick sheets. Glancing back down to her best friend, Sam noticed for the first time that the blue glow was gone, although he was glowing very faintly white. Looking closer, there was actually an almost pinkish tinge to the glow. When he looked up at her, Sam saw that his eyes were red again, but it wasn't completely coating his eyes like before, it was just the irises.

"W-why did y-" Danny choked out before he coughed roughly and more liquid leaked out, this time more red human blood then the ectoplasm already coating his hand.

"Follow you? Why wouldn't we? We're your friends, Danny. It would take a lot more than that to keep m- us away." Sam said, holding out a hand to help him up. He looked torn- pick up his hand from the ground and lose his stability, or give her his blood-coated hand. He finally set down his other hand and raised the cleaner one to Sam. She accepted it and helped him up.

"How did you… do the wail?" She asked quietly. He looked up at her, puzzled.

"Wha-" He coughed again. She wiped off the blood from his mouth, rubbing it carelessly on her skirt.

"How did you do the wail when you were human?" His eyes widened with realization. He opened his mouth, then quickly shut it, instead miming his transformation rings by running one hand up and down his body as far as he could comfortably reach.

"Oh, you did transform?" Jazz asked, relieved. Danny nodded. His friends sighed in relief. His parents still hadn't quite registered how much trouble Danny would have been if he hadn't switched, but they were relieved too that he was still relatively all right. Sam helped Danny over to his parents, where Jack scooped him up. Danny bit his wet lip, knowing they would be upset for him running out like that.

"Are you okay?" Danny nodded slowly, starting to sink into his father's arms. Not through intangibility, but through exhaustion.

"Then we should go home…" Jack suggested. Maddie and Jazz agreed while Danny just closed his eyes.

"Sam, Tucker…?" Maddie half-asked.

"We're coming." They both said, looking at each other in surprise at agreeing with the other. If it had been a lighter situation, they might have laughed. Instead, they just climbed into the GAV without a word. The Fentons followed, and Maddie took the driver's seat as Jack had a lapful of Danny. The ride back was very quiet and to their surprise, by the time they got back to Fentonworks Danny had fallen into a light sleep. Jack laid him on the couch, being uncharacteristically gentle. They all nodded to each other before heading down to the lab. They filed down the stairs in a straight line-Jack, Maddie, Jazz, then Sam and finally Tucker. When they were all down, Tucker voiced what they all were thinking.

"What now?"

* * *

><p>AN I hid a tiny reference in here. Anyone who gets it is really awesome. (Hint- Insivi-Bo. Yes, I'm spelling that right.) Apparently, the theme of this chapter was people talking at the same time as everyone else! Wow… I'm a horrible person for just crushing Danny's hopes like that. But, on the plus side, ghostly wail actioooooon! Woo! Okay, still. I torture him. Bad me. Anyway, please rate and review! For Danny! Because you know, the longer until I update, the longer he's got a bleeding throat, and I like updating after I get reviews…

Danny: *Glares darkly at me* What you're planning next is no picnic either!

Me: True, but at least you won't be bleeding! …Much.

Danny: …I don't really know how to respond to that.

Me: Then don't. All feedback welcome, just click that little button right under this here note. Until next time!


	12. Chapter 12

They stood in the lab in silence for a minute.

"So… do you still have it?" Sam asked, her tone quiet. It was far removed from her usual attitude, ringing with seriousness. Maddie nodded, pointing to a relatively small glowing vial that was the only thing on a tucked-away table. Sam walked over to it, picking up the glass and examining it. The liquid inside was a light purplish blue, but with little spots of green and red dotting it.

"It needed to have a sample of Danny's in it for it to work effectively-otherwise, it would just delay the… complete transformation." It took Maddie a moment to find the words. Sam nodded-it looked a bit like the cure for the ecto-acne, which reminded her of Vlad again.

"What will happen with Vlad after all this is over? I personally would love to just go kick his butt…" Sam said, gritting her teeth.

"I don't know. I think we should let Danny have his way with him." Tucker said, shrugging. "Unless we just start shooting him with ecto guns-which I'd still go for- usually these fights stay between them, unless we get dragged in, and I like it that way. After all, Vlad _is_ one of Danny's strongest enemies, and it's more personal then with his other enemies."

"How does it usually go between the two of them?" Maddie asked. Jack looked faintly like he still couldn't believe Vlad had done everything. Sam and Tucker looked at each other, and Jazz's eyes drifted up to the ceiling, lost in a memory.

"Well, Vlad usually shows up, they exchange witty banter, most of the time involving one of you two, then they fight. Vlad usually almost wins until Danny does something to trip him up." Sam said, cocking her head. "Unless Danny's ticked about something, then they just beat on each other until somebody gives up." Maddie bit her lip and nodded.

"You said he was the Wisconsin ghost, right?"

"Yeah." Jazz chimed in. Sam shot her a look.

"Vlad Plasmius." Tucker said. "I never liked the name…"

"It's better than Phantom from Fenton." Jazz muttered.

"Hey, the name was Danny's idea!" Tucker argued.

"Well, it doesn't matter." Maddie interjected. "I think we should let Danny decide."

"Let… Danny decide what?" Everyone heard from the stairs, where the halfa was rubbing his eyes. Maddie quickly ran over.

"Honey, are you sure you should be u-"

"Mom, I'm fine. I heal fast." Danny protested, his voice starting to fall back to normal volume. He wiped his mouth, getting rid of the rest of the ectoplasm. She smiled.

"I guess there are some advantages to having ghost powers?" Danny smiled back and nodded.

"Definitely. How long was I out?"

"Only about ten minutes." Jack cut in, wanting to say something. Danny's eyes widened a tad.

"Really? Huh, I guess it wasn't as bad as it felt." He shrugged. "What were you guys talking about?"

"Vlad." His mother said. "I thought we should let you decide what to do with him." That stopped Danny in the middle of rubbing his eyes again.

"Huh, I haven't really considered that…" He mumbled. "I was more worried about myself…" Suddenly, his eyes flared green as he let a small smirk slide across his lips. "Hmm, I have an idea for Vlad… he's tricked me a few times in the past. I think it'd only be fair for me to try a little something on him, right?" Sam and Tucker grinned-they knew he had something good planned and leaned in to hear it.

"Jazz? Do I still have those clothes from the whole 'ghost catcher' incident?" She looked confused, and Danny grinned weakly as he tried to think of another term in which to put it. "'Fun Danny'?" As he bit his lip in embarrassment at the term, the light flipped on in his sister's head.

"Oh! Yes, I think you still have them, why?" He grinned for real again.

"Okay, then here's what we can all do…"

* * *

><p>A few hours passed, with everyone doing small jobs. Maddie and Jack were making small adjustments to an older invention of theirs on Danny's request, and the teenagers were making a few final adjustments to their plans, still keeping the Fenton parents in the dark. Danny was the most worried, but he wouldn't tell anyone why. They thought it had something to do with the countdown, but there was something… more, that not even Jazz could put her finger on. By the time the sun had set, he was avoiding everyone's eyes.<p>

"Okay Danny, I'll bite. What is it?" Sam asked, spinning her friend around to face her. Somewhere around five o clock, his eyes had been cemented a pale reddish-pink.

"Nothing." He muttered. "Just worried." She had long since noticed that the glow around his body hadn't faded, and it suddenly melted into a light green. She gasped quietly as she realized it showed his emotions.

"Danny, there's more. You can tell me-"

"No, I… I can't!" He said loudly, the green shooting to reddish for a moment before fading to blue. Sam decided to change her tactics.

"Please?" Danny sighed, then finally looked her in the eyes.

"You remember when we… went to the future, right?" Sam nodded, unsure why he was asking.

"Yeah… why?"

"And you know how most ghosts we meet tend to be evil?" Suddenly getting what he was so worried about, Sam laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Danny, you won't turn evil!" He narrowed his eyes and tried to turn away, but she kept her hand firm and refused to let him move.

"How do you know? My parents have always thought all ghosts are evil and-"

"And they've been chasing Danny Phantom for trying to help the town for months. Danny, since when do you let what your parents think influence you?"He gently moved her hand off his shoulder, holding it in his. Sam vaguely noticed that it was ice-cold as she gazed into his eyes.

"Sam, this is from _my_ experience too. Other then Frostbite and Wulf, how many ghosts can you name that don't have some form of evil intent? All of them were people at one time too, other than the animals." As she opened her mouth, he quickly added, "Box Ghost doesn't count."

"Cujo, Dora once I talked to her… Danny, you of all people should know!" She paused to think of the right words, and remembered something her mom had once told her when an old friend had made fun of her when she was little and she had thought life was over. "The future is never set in stone, you can be whoever you want to be. Don't let what others have done weigh you down." Suddenly, Danny's eyes flew wide open. He started muttering something to himself. Sam caught the words 'second chance' and 'might not' before Danny suddenly grabbed her in a tight hug.

"Thanks, Sam!" Confused and blushing, she only hugged him back lightly. She noticed his aura (She supposed that was what to call it) had turned a bright yellow and assumed that meant he was happy, so she smiled. She had no idea why her words had cheered him up so much, but as long as it had worked, she didn't care.

"Uh, you're welcome?" She said hesitantly as Danny let go of her, rubbing the back of his neck. The aura had turned a light pink, which probably meant embarrassment. Just as they turned their gaze from each other, Tucker walked in to see the blushing Sam rubbing her arm and Danny rubbing the back of his neck and was surrounded by a faint pink glow.

"Did I just miss something?" His eyes glittered mischievously and his mouth turned up in a smirk.

"No!" They both yelled at him. His grin widened.

"Right… anyway, Danny, your parents say the adjustments are done. If you want to try it on…" He nodded.

"I'll come right down. Thanks, Tuck." He nodded to his friend, who flashed one last smirk at them before leaving. Danny finally stopped rubbing his neck long enough to grin nervously at Sam and wave a hand in the direction of the lab. "Shall we?" She nodded and took the lead. As they passed the clock, Danny gulped at the number.

_**6:52**_.

Down in the lab, Jack was proudly examining what looked like half of a handcuff. (Incidentally, it was because before their modifications, it had been part of a pair of handcuffs.) When he spotted Danny, he ran over.

"Danny-boy! We finished it!"

"I can see that!" Danny laughed, holding out his hand. Before sliding it on, he turned to his mother. "Mom… how much did you do?"

"I worked with a lot of the inner gears, honey. Your father designed the outside."

"He did a good job," Tucker commented, and Danny had to agree. Instead of just plain silver, the coloring was weave of black, green, and the usual Fenton orange with the large F being the thing hiding the clasp.

"Yeah. It looks really cool, Dad." Danny approved, sliding the bracelet on.

"Danny? It'll work better if you went ghost first." Danny shrugged.

"You two are the geniuses." He pulled it off and went ghost before sliding it on again, clicking the clasp and feeling a small jolt before it quickly faded. "Activate Fenton Ghost Protection Mode!" The boy called. A green scan passed through everything in the room before Jack's voice announced,

"No ectoplasmic intruders detected."

"Sweet! It works!" Danny called, pumping his bracelet-laden arm.

"Of course it works, _we_ made it!" Jack proclaimed proudly, which earned a giggle from Danny, Tucker, and Sam.

"Danny, as glad as I am to help, what is this plan of yours? You wouldn't tell us before." Maddie said, her tone still excited, like… well, like an inventor whose invention just worked. Danny, a big smile still plastered on his face, turned to her.

"Okay. Here's how this all is going to fit together…"

* * *

><p>After Danny's explanation of the plan, which was relatively simple, Tucker suggested they relax for the last few hours they had. Danny winced at his choice of wording, but agreed. After Danny checked that all of the materials were in a bag was, Danny said they were finished. They ended up arguing over what movie to see, (Danny flat out refused anything to do with ghosts) but everyone settled on a fantasy they'd gotten a while ago but had never had time to watch. Danny, Sam, and Tucker sat on the couch, while Maddie, Jack and Jazz took the chairs. Jack made popcorn and brought in fudge, and they all watched for as long as they could.<p>

By ten forty five, everyone was out but Danny, Sam and Tucker, who insisted they needed to stay up with Danny. He tried to insist that he'd wake them up before he left, but they refused to sleep, assuring him that the late-night patrols helped them keep themselves up. He was glad for their company as the clock crept up past eleven ten… eleven fifteen… eleven twenty five. The movie was still going (it was an entire series recorded on disk) but Danny had long since muted it. Instead, the trio was making up dialogue-Danny with the black haired boy, Sam the fluffy haired girl, and Tucker the red-head. Finally, when eleven forty ticked by on the clock, Danny decided to wake up his family.

"Guys? Guys! Wake up!" Tucker turned the TV off as Danny lightly shook Jazz and his mother as Sam tried to wake up Jack. Jazz came to quickly, and Maddie woke up a second later.

"Wha..? We fell asleep?" Maddie muttered.

"Yeah. It's eleven forty." Tucker answered. "We've got twenty minutes."

"Huh?" Jack muttered, rubbing his head. "Where's the ghost?" Danny chuckled.

"No ghosts, dad."

"Oh, right." Jack said slowly. "What happened?"

"You ate almost the whole bucket of popcorn and half a pound of fudge and were the first one to pass out." Danny supplied. Jack grinned sheepishly.

"It tasted so good…" Everyone laughed at that as they all stood up. They had agreed to pass midnight in the lab-Danny had insisted on it. As they passed the clock in the kitchen, Danny read out loud,

"11:46." A chill settled across the six that had nothing to do with Danny's malfunctioning ice powers. As he flicked on the light to the lab, Tucker noticed something.

"Hey, that glow from before is gone dude." He noted out loud to Danny.

"I was glowing?" He raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Yeah, didn't you… you didn't see it?" Sam asked. Danny shook his head. "It looked kind of like a toned down version of when your emotions were tied to the weather-you glowed when you were angry or sad." Danny looked confused.

"I did?" Tucker rubbed his chin.

"Huh, maybe only _we_ could see it… ah well." He shrugged. "It doesn't matter now." Danny nodded, walking down the stairs. The other five followed him, all feeling as nervous as he was. When they were standing in the middle of the room, Maddie walked forward.

"Danny… you'll be back, won't you?" He nodded, leaning forward for a hug. She quickly took it, squeezing him tight. When she let go of her son, there were tears dancing in her eyes, threatening to spill out.

"Guys, Danny Phantom belongs in this town as much as any of you do. He'll be here as much as I possibly can… working alongside the Fentons, if he can." He smiled weakly at them. Jazz walked forward next, and for once said nothing. She just held her arms open, and Danny hugged her too.

"Good luck, little brother." She walked back to be with their parents. Jack just gave him a thumbs up. Sam and Tucker came together last, and just rushed up, grabbing him in a bone-crushing embrace. He hugged them back, feeling the warmth of their bodies.

"I'll never forget either of you." He whispered.

"We won't let you." Tucker said, grinning. Danny wiped a tear out of his eye before smiling weakly, fighting back the urge to cry more.

"I'm going ghost!" He yelled for what he knew to be the last time, creating the rings. This time, they were both a light green, and he shivered as they passed. His costume was still altered- the DP symbol was bright red and his boots and gloves had red swirls. There were also streaks of blue of his pants and dashes of white on his shirt.

"Hey, can someone take a picture? This looks sweet." Danny said. Tucker quickly snapped a photo with his PDA as Danny struck a shy pose, waving. Sam looked over at it-in the picture, his personality bled through as Fenton, no matter what he looked like.

"Perfect." She whispered. Tucker's PDA suddenly beeped.

"I set it for an alarm at one minute to midnight." He explained. Silence fell over everyone as they all looked to Danny.

"Now we wait." He supposed out loud, quickly closing his mouth after speaking. The minute passed like an hour, and they all looked at their watches. The last seconds ticked by like on a bomb, until it struck midnight. Danny suddenly groaned, clutching his chest.

"Danny!" Everyone chorused, their eyes widening in shock. His white aura had intensified, clearly causing the teenager pain. He fell to his knees, pulling his other hand to his head.

"Gah!" He yelled Sam almost ran forward, but Tucker held out a hand to stop her. Danny levitated about an inch above the lab floor before he let out one loud scream and fell silent. They expected him to be panting, but he was just staring ahead vacantly. It looked like a trick of the light, but his hair looked more blue then white. His outfit had returned to what it had always been, with no colors other then the black jumpsuit and white gloves, boots, belt and symbol.

"Danny?" Jazz took a step forward, as her brother let both of his arms drop and his legs melt into his tail.

"It's… it's over. It's over." He whispered. "I can't believe it's over." Jazz reached out a hand.

"Danny?" She repeated, concern seeping into her sisterly tone. He turned to her, and she resisted the urge to jolt back. His eyes had blood red irises.

"I'm… I'm okay. Well, as okay as I _can_ be." He said quietly to her, and she sighed loudly in relief. Everyone let out the breath they didn't know they'd been holding. He smirked weakly, examining his hands, before turning around and flying over to the bag. He quickly prepared himself, taking special care with his hair, hands and shoes. He tossed the bag onto an empty table, then turned to the staircase.

"Well… I guess… I guess I'll be off."

"Danny…" Jazz called after him. He turned back to look at her. Her teal eyes were pleading. "_Please_ be careful." He smiled at her reassuringly.

"I'll be fine. I promise." He turned back to the other four in the lab, before repeating himself. "I promise… I'll be back." Then, without another word, he turned and walked up the stairs.

* * *

><p>AN This is the longest chapter so far. Woah. It's not especially dramatic, but I think it's a good cliffhanger. I originally planned something more extravagant for the transformstion, then I realized a chemical shouldn't do that, so you get this, woo hoo. Next chapter-The confrontation with Vlad! To clear a few head canons up-No, I assume Danny couldn't see himself glowing in Torrent Of Terror. I think his reaction would be more then just 'I have felt kinda tingly...' it would be 'Holy crap I'm glowing bright red!' Next, since the whole fight with Dan at the Nasty Burger technically didn't happen, Sam wouldn't know why those words would have such an effect on Danny. We all clear? Okay. The next part is where the real fun starts!

PS If anyone can guess Danny's plan, they get a cookie.

Rate and review please!


	13. Chapter 13

A/N The fight scene. Need I say more? It's fun to mess with with Vlad and Danny playing off of each other. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

><p>Danny walked out into the cool night air, but he didn't notice it. The ghost sighed, already missing that one particular sensation, before he remembered one thing his mother had insisted on and slid the Fenton Phones out of his green plaid jacket pocket, then placed them in his ears.<p>

"Can you guys hear me?"

"Loud and clear, Danny." Sam's voice answered back. "Your mom has the other pair." The teen felt an odd twinge at the name Danny, but brushed it off.

"Good. Once I get to Vlad's, I'm turning them off again, okay? If I turn them on, I need help or something. I doubt I will, but just in case." He knew his friend would be nodding.

"Got it. I wouldn't want to listen in much anyway." Danny was walking at a relatively slow pace, and he was feeling oddly… hyped for what he was about to do. Like the prospect of a good fight was nice. He shook that off, wondering where it had come from. Sure, he never minded a tussle in ghost form, but looking for a fight was going too far. He wondered where it came from, and his worry from before that Sam had gotten out of him hit the teen squarely in the chest. He knew he needed a moment and ducked into a dark ally. Normally he would have avoided a place like that, but tonight he didn't care.

"Okay, calm down Phantom." He looked himself up and down-green jacket and shirt with red circle that had line through it? Check. Jeans, and normal red sneakers that had been forced over his boots? Check. Gloves tucked in pocket and ecto signature concealing bracelet hidden under sleeve? Check. He pulled down his bangs to see dyed black hair, and grinned. This was going to be hilarious. Sure, there was nothing he could do about his eyes, but he had a pair of sunglasses to put on before seeing Vlad. He just hoped the man wouldn't question the need to wear sunglasses in the middle of the night. Hopefully he'd be his usual fruit-loopy self and be too busy gloating to care. With a new spring in his step, he quickly walked all the way up the streets to the man's house. It didn't take very long, at least to him. Soon enough, he was staring the large doors.

"All right Sam, Mom, I'm cutting contact now. If you hear feedback then I'd advise getting over here."

"Gotchya Danny."

"Good luck, sweetheart." He pressed the tiny button that shut off the phones and shoved them in his pocket. He took a deep breath, but it gave no relief, only serving to make him feel empty.

"No lungs now. Right. This is going to take some getting used to…" He clicked the sunglasses open and put them on before knocking loudly on the door.

"Hello? Plasmius?" He yelled as loudly as he dared, pounding on the huge door. He just kept hammering, being careful to not overdo it and accidentally knock the door in with his ghostly strength which seemed to tingle in his hands, eager to be used. No… moving past that thought. After a minute, the doors suddenly had a crack of light in the center. Danny tossed them the rest of the way open, making sure his expression was a controlled annoyance. He mentally sighed in relief when he felt no tingle from Vlad's new system-the bracelet had worked. Closing the doors before walking into the main green and a gold hallway, he was surprised to see no one there.

"What, is the high and mighty Vlad Plasmius too chicken to face a mere fourteen year old human?" He taunted. His arch rival suddenly flickered into the visible spectrum at the end of the hallway, and Danny's excellent vision showed that he was grinning. He resisted the urge to fly up and slug the man and stayed where he was, folding his arms. The older halfa walked up slowly, obviously trying to test Danny's patience. "Come on, a ninety year old could walk faster than you!" Danny called, narrowing his eyes.

"Enjoy your insults Daniel. They're all you have left now." Vlad chuckled, his arms behind his back, as he finally reached the boy. Danny just glared at him back through the glasses. "Honestly, I'm surprised. I thought that stubborn heroic streak in you wouldn't let you stay a weak _human_."

"Well, for someone who obsessively stalked me for months you sure don't know how I think." Danny retorted. Vlad narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Are we really going to go there, Daniel?" Danny let his mouth curl up a little and he smirked.

"Yep. I'm here to tell you something." He waited for Vlad's reaction, which was just him leaning forward.

"And that is…?" He grabbed Vlad's collar and yanked him down.

"I'm here to say that, human or ghost, I'm going to do everything I can to make your life as miserable as possible. I've spent nearly a year in the shadows, and I'm not afraid to use it." He practically hissed. There was a millisecond of confusion on his arch-nemesis's face before it disappeared into a cool smirk. Few others would have noticed it, but Danny knew enough about Vlad to see it and the teen smiled devilishly.

"Was that supposed to scare me?" Vlad said calmly. Danny shook his head slowly.

"No… but you'll see. Believe me, soon you'll be wishing for our old catfights."

"I'm sure I will. Now what, do tell, do you plan on doing?" Vlad's voice was teasing. "Egg my house? Try and get some ridiculous rumor started in the press? No, I doubt you could have even thought of something as clever as to smear my reputation." At that, Danny decided it was his cue to drop the disguise and cut to the chase. He ripped off his sunglasses with one hand and quickly clicked off the bracelet with the other, slipping it into his jacket pocket. He glared up at Vlad with as much venom as he could and reveled in the shocked look on his face.

"What on earth…?" Danny quickly turned intangible, letting all of the clothes (and the hair dye) drop off of him. He quickly slid his gloves back on and grinned at Vlad, floating up just above his eye level.

"Surprise, cheese head." He shot an energy ray at him, knocking the man back before he had time to form a shield. The blast was so powerful that Vlad almost hit the opposite wall before the man initiated his black rings and transformed into his alter ego.

"Why, you little rat! You tricked me!" Danny couldn't resist the urge to laugh at Vlad's enraged expression, and slapped a glove over his mouth.

"Oh man… you should've seen your face! I'm gonna remember that _forever_!" The teen said, cracking up. Vlad shot a pink ecto ray at him, but Danny just melted his middle around it in a 'C' shape. The older ghost flew towards the younger one, who just yawned. He raised his arm, like he was about to shoot another attack at the boy, but he lowered it.

"Do you realize what you've given up?" Vlad paused, smirking, as the words sank in. Danny turned onto his stomach in midair, thinking. His legs folded up behind him, crossing up over each other. When he started talking, he raised a finger at each sentence to accent his points.

"Let's see… being a loser at school. Being constantly ridiculed for having two ghost fighting parents. Always being worried that an invention of theirs could accidentally kill me. Yeah, I'm going to be missing so much!" His tone had a sarcastic bite. Vlad's expression hadn't changed.

"Now let _me_ see… having a good mother? Friends that care to ridiculous levels? Not being alone, as that seems to matter to you so much?" Vlad said back calmly. He knew just how to pull Danny's strings, and by the sudden miserable look on the teen's face showed he'd hit bull's-eye. Danny felt a wave of sadness at Vlad's words. Then, knew Vlad was trying to play him, and realized that he didn't want to take any more mind games. Hadn't the man already done enough? Danny felt a rush of anger. How _dare_ Vlad try to mess with his emotions? If he'd been thinking straight, he would have questioned his action, but as it was he rode out the anger by grabbing Vlad's shirt and flinging him as far as he could, shooting numerous rays at him before the man turned around.

"Struck a nerve, did I?" His voice was still triumphant-Danny silently vowed to fix that.

"_You… could say that_." The boy said slowly through gritted teeth. His voice's echo sounded a thousand times more powerful than usual, like there was an entire chorus of Phantoms speaking. His voice was lower as well, almost demonic. There was a spark of fear in Vlad's eyes as they widened.

"How did you…" Danny grinned, feeling an odd cool sensation from his head. He ignored it in favor of shooting up to Vlad, lighting up his hands with green energy. It danced like flames, lighting up Vlad's (and he was sure his) face with a campfire-like effect.

"_There's one thing you forgot Plasmius_…" It had only occurred to Danny a moment ago, but the idea pleased him immensely.

"What? I wouldn't forget anything!" The fear had receded momentarily so Vlad could defend his pride. Danny leaned closer to him, feeling his eyes… well, not quite become sore, but tingly. He quickly decided he liked the feeling.

"_Ghosts' powers and obsessions come from how they lived and how they died. I wanted to be an astronaut, but was otherwise a boring human… but I died…_" He grinned wider, enjoying the sudden uncomfortable look on Vlad's face as he started to realize what Danny was getting at. "_I died by absorbing the energy of the ghost zone… making me_ _a_ _**very powerful ghost**_." The last part was a hissed whisper, but still somehow calm and smooth, almost seductive. He grabbed Vlad and yanked him up to his face. "_And as we all know, ghosts don't like humans… or half-humans…"_ He gripped Vlad tightly. The older halfa tried to phase out of his grip but Danny concentrated on focusing energy in his hands, stopping Vlad's intangibility. He intensified the power, letting it run through Vlad's body unrestrained. The man bit his lip, trying not to cry out as he started trembling from the green glow now totally incasing his body. "_But I should at least give you a sporting chance, shouldn't I_?" Danny taunted, dropping the man suddenly and floating up, crossing his arms. Vlad stopped himself from hitting the ground and flew up to be at eye level with his young rival.

"What happened to you, Daniel?" His tone, although there were traces of anger, also held a hint of worry. For a moment it shook Danny out of his trance, but he quickly slipped back into it.

_He deserves it, Phantom. Don't give him any mercy. Remember everything he's ever done to you!_ It wasn't words in his mind, more of a feeling nudging his subconscious, but whatever it was, the boy was glad to oblige it. He did so by grabbing Vlad and shooting ice energy through his hands, almost instantly freezing the man solid from the inside out. He uncaringly dropped him onto the hard floor, letting the ice crack as he stared down at it. Vlad slowly peeled his way out, obviously very affected by the cold temperature.

_Think about this, Danny. Sure he's a jerk, but does he deserve this?_ That thought made him wonder. _Did_ Vlad deserve this? Yes, but wasn't he supposed to be the good guy?

_That doesn't matter! He deserves this times a hundred. Come on, Phantom, pound that good for nothing into the ground!_ Danny wasn't sure what to think anymore, but he could feel himself being swayed towards doing more to Vlad. Who cared if he was the 'good guy'? It's not like anyone could see him, right? Besides, everything that had happened to him the past few days could have blame pinned squarely on Vlad's shoulders! Danny felt rage fill him again, and he glared coldly down where Vlad had finally gotten out of his ice prison.

"As you would say… that was cold." Vlad said. "I'm surprised at you, Daniel." He floated back up to Danny, and his eyes widened a little at something on the boy's head before their red eyes met. "I never expected you to attack so… brutally. Are you finally realizing that nice guys finish last?" At that, Danny laughed. The sound surprised even him, void of any sympathy. It sounded like the laugh of a killer after his job had been finished and he hadn't been caught.

"_I suppose I have. You know who else finishes last?_" He paused for dramatic effect. "_Fruit loops_." The teen took a deep breath, letting loose with his ghostly wail. He cranked up the power to near maximum, pulling from deep within his core to make it as painful for Plasmius as possible. The man struggled for a moment in midair before it pinned him to the wall next to the closed doors. If the boy had been paying more attention, he would have noticed his human clothes had gotten also caught in the wail, throwing them up against the wall with enough force for something inside the jacket pocket to click together. As it was, he just kept up the powerful cry until he saw Vlad revert back to human form. Satisfied, he walked up to his enemy.

"_Ready to realize how seriously you messed up_?" The boy said smugly. Vlad just took one look at the boy, shot a pink beam from his hands into the boy's chest, then passed out. He hadn't been ready for it, and the blast sent Danny back a few feet. He climbed back to his feet within a few seconds, ready to beat on the unconscious Vlad for pulling a trick like that, when he caught sight of something in Vlad's display case. More specifically, he caught sight of himself in a mirror inside the case. His red eyes had been glowing and gleaming happily at the thought of causing Vlad pain. His hands were clenched into loose fists, already glowing with wispy ectoplasmic energy. But, the part that had Danny rooted in place was his hair. The second he saw it, he realized exactly what Vlad had seen before and why his head had been feeling cool.

There were little bluish-cream drops dancing up from his whitish blue hair like sparks from a fire. Danny knew they were ice, but that didn't stop him from instantly taking in the rest of his body-the fighting stance and energy, the eyes, the hair… it all looked like a younger version of his future self. The teen stumbled back, looking at his glowing hands in horror. He managed to stutter out a single sentence, his voice terrified but still echoing ominously.

"What's _happening_ to me?"

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><p>AN Okay. Yes, Danny's being a bit needlessly cruel. Vlad deserves it, but there's a reason Danny's acting like a jerk-all will be explained! *cue magic authoress sparkles*. I had a _lot_ of fun making this part; I hope Vlad wasn't too bad or OOC. As someone brought up, 'third season Vlad' is a bit different from seasons one and two Vlad, but I'm going off a little combo of both. Okay, don't hate me for the hair at the end, it's going to be explained better later. Please bear with me, okay?

Anyway, please rate and review! Many thanks!

~Shadow


	14. Chapter 14

A/N I've thrown a few hints of Ultimate Enemy in here. No, Danny's not going to go full Dan-he would need Plasmius for that. If he seems evil, it's on his own terms.

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><p>Back in the Fenton lab, they were all waiting in anticipation. Danny had said that he would call them when he was finished with Vlad, so everyone was just kind of killing time. Jack was fiddling with the Fenton Fisher, Sam and Maddie were just waiting with the Fenton Phones, and Jazz was watching Tucker play a game on his PDA. Suddenly, mind-shattering pain flared in Sam's ears. "Yaaah!" At the same time, Maddie cried out loudly, and they simultaneously yanked out their Fenton Phones. Sam touched her ears, and was half-surprised to not feel blood gushing out of them.<p>

"What was _that_?" Maddie gasped. Sam rubbed her ears.

"I'm not… oh man!" Her eyes widened, and she grabbed the nearest person, who happened to be Tucker, in a tight grip. "That must have been his ghostly wail! He's in trouble!" Jack shoved the Fisher in his pocket and ran upstairs. Maddie followed, and the three teens were right behind her. Jazz grabbed the keys to the GAV from their hook in the kitchen, noticing her parents had forgotten them. She stopped for a moment, then quickly turned around to Sam and Tucker.

"You two, grab some weapons. We don't know how much trouble Danny could be in." Tucker and Sam nodded, heading back down. A minute later, all three teens piled into the Assault Vehicle. Sam and Tucker had armed themselves with thermoses and ecto guns, and Jazz had a bazooka and the Fenton Peeler. Jack and Maddie saw their full arms, and Jack smiled.

"Good thinking, kids!" He pulled out the Fisher, which was mostly untangled by now. "Let's go save Danny!" Jazz tossed him the keys, and they were jammed into the ignition almost instantly before Jack hit the gas pedal and they were off. Luckily, considering it was about fifteen minutes past midnight, almost no one was out on the streets, leaving Jack to push the speed for all the van had to give.

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><p>Danny slowly backed up from the display case, still staring at his gloves. The emerald ectoplasmic energy was still glowing on them, and he didn't care to think of why.<p>

"Okay. Focus, Phantom. What happened?" He closed his eyes, racking his mind. "Okay. I got ready, and walked here. Nothing odd. Vlad and I exchanged banter. Nothing odd. Then… when we started fighting… that's when… that feeling showed up. Where did that come from?" Danny had started pacing. "Okay, we threw a few blasts, then… he started messing with my mind. Was that it? It was about the time I started getting really mad at him… but saying things like that is pretty much normal for him. I guess it hit so hard because… he's right." Danny came to a halt, his legs melting into a tail as he placed his index finger on his lips. "So, I just lost my head? No, I was telling myself it was enough, but there was still something egging me on…" His legs reappeared and he went back to pacing. Suddenly, he heard a loud banging on the door. "Oh crap, who could that be?" He ducked behind a pillar automatically, turning invisible before deciding to answer it. _If it's a ghost, then they have the worst timing eve-Dad? Mom_? He flew back at the sight of his parents, his mother in a fighting stance and his father holding the Fenton Fisher. _What are _they_ doing here?_

"Danny?" His mother called out, as Jazz and Sam stepped out from behind her. Tucker peeked his head up above Sam's. Danny wasn't sure he wanted them to see him-but, he figured that they should see him before assuming the worst. He was just glad no one had noticed Vlad unconscious a few feet away. He dropped his invisibility, still right in front of him.

"Danny!" Sam said, looking shocked. "You're okay!" At that, Danny cocked his head, confused.

"Why wouldn't I be? Why are you all here?"

"Danny, you turned on the Phones! Sam and mom heard the wail, and we thought you'd be in trouble!" Jazz interjected. Danny looked at them.

"No, I didn't-oh!" He looked at the heap of clothes, now next to the door. "They must have gotten caught in the wail and accidentally turned on! Guys, I'm…" He'd absently run a hand through his hair, and suddenly remembered what he'd been puzzling over. "…Fine." He shifted his gaze to the floor.

"Danny?" This time, it was Tucker. "You sure, dude? Where's Vlad?" Danny gulped and pointed to the unconscious body. Five pairs of eyes followed his hand to see the unconscious, currently human mayor.

"Vlad!" Jack practically cried. He turned to Danny. "What happened?"

"_I_ happened." Danny muttered quietly. Sam noticed how he'd stopped looking at them.

"Danny, what's wrong? You should be happy! Did it use up a lot of energy or something?" Danny looked up to meet her eyes, and bit his lip lightly.

"No… the thing is… I feel great. I just did a wail, and feel just fine." Sam and Tucker's eyes widened at that.

"That's not right. How…?" Tucker asked. Danny shook his head.

"I don't know. That's what I was trying to figure out before you guys showed up. I guess it's a side effect of being full ghost, but why? Ghosts can weaken; they just can't really pass out." He resumed the pacing from before. "What's different from before? What do ghosts have that a human-well, a half human-doesn't?"

"An obsession." Maddie suddenly cut in. "That's one of the biggest differences-ghosts are evil because they'll do whatever it takes to achieve their obsession." Danny looked up at her, running a hand through his hair again.

"Does that mean my 'obsession' has something to do with this?"

"It's a possibility…" She suggested. "What do you think it is?" Danny only had to think for a moment before it came to him.

"Wait… guys. What did I spend most of my time in ghost form doing?" The question was directed more at Sam, Tucker and Jazz.

"Fighting ghosts, why?" Sam replied. Danny looked back at the unconscious Vlad, who suddenly moaned.

"And what was I just doing?"

"I assume fighting Vlad…" This time it was Jazz who answered. Danny closed his eyes.

"Exactly… I think I figured it out. Danny Phantom has always been seen fighting ghosts… it's what he knows how to do. What I always do. That's my obsession… fighting ghosts." Jack and Maddie gasped, Sam bit her lip, and Tucker and Jazz's eyes widened. "It makes sense… doesn't it?" Maddie nodded slowly.

"Increased endurance-"

"A feeling like I _need_ to fight." Danny cut in, tapping his forehead thoughtfully. "It fits… but then, why aren't I leaving right now? Vlad's obviously beaten."

"Well, you're still having a civilized conversation with us. Maybe it hasn't kicked in yet?" Tucker suggested. Danny's gaze wandered to the ceiling.

"Yeah, maybe…" A low groan from the floor got all of their attention.

"What…?" Vlad lifted a hand to his head, and by the time his eyes were open there was an ecto gun, a thermos, and the Fenton Peeler all aimed at his head. Blue eyes widened, and he raised his hands, but Danny stepped in front of his family and friends. Confused, they lowered their weapons.

"No, leave him for me." Danny said tiredly. "I can take him."

"Danny-" Jazz started, but he silenced her with a glare.

"I'm not going to keep fighting. I… I want to go into the ghost zone, okay? Maybe it'll help me figure a few things out. You guys should go."

"Daniel…" Came a confused and slightly annoyed voice from the floor. Danny just glanced down and absently pointed at Vlad's mouth. A swath of green goo shot out of his finger and covered Vlad's mouth. The billionaire instantly started trying to protest, but it was muffled significantly.

"Shut it, Plasmius." Danny muttered. He turned back to the others, who were looking at him with surprised faces.

"Since when can you do that?" Sam asked, pointing at his hand. Danny's eyes widened as they followed Sam's finger.

"I… don't know…" When he looked up again, his eyes held an edge of terror. "You guys need to leave." Maddie stepped closer to her son, her face worried.

"Danny? What's-" He wanted to show them, let them know somehow that his ghost energy was really starting to kick in. The teen concentrated, and his head grew chilly again. This time, he didn't feel it as much, but a backward glance showed him that his hair was flaring up again. Sam, Tucker, and Jazz gasped, but Jack and Maddie's faces just twisted further in confusion.

"How did you do that?" His father finally asked. "I've never seen Phantom-"

"I don't know, okay?" Danny finally burst out. "I think I got an energy boost or something now that I'm just a ghost, and my hair did it on its own. It's just like-" He quickly cut himself off. There was no way his parents were finding out about _that_. He dropped his gaze again and slowly pointed at the door. "Just get out." His mother spoke up.

"When are you-"

"I'll be back when I figure this out, okay?" He'd lifted into the air automatically, and glared down at her. His vision fuzzed for a moment, and there was a pang from his eyes. He figured they were glowing. "Phantom's tied to Amity Park, whether I want it or not! I can't leave forever. Now GO!" His mother held his gaze for a moment, then thrust her arm towards Tucker, whispering something to him that Danny couldn't hear. The African American teen handed Maddie his thermos, and she in turn tossed it to Danny.

"Use it well. And… don't forget yourself." It was both a sympathetic comment and a warning. She took one last look at Vlad, then at Danny, before leaving out the door. Jack followed her, leaving Danny alone with his friends and sister. By their halfway shocked and halfway worried faces, he knew he'd slightly snapped. He lowered to the floor again, setting his face in his hands.

"I… I didn't mean…" Suddenly, a hand was on his shoulder. He slowly lowered his hands to see his sister.

"It's okay, Danny." Tucker set his hand on the ghost's other shoulder, and Sam placed hers lightly on his symbol. "We're still here for you."

"And you have to admit…" Tucker said, smiling weakly, "The hair _does_ look pretty cool." Danny half-smiled.

"Maybe… but it's just like…"

"I know." Tucker said back. "But don't let it set you back. You just apologized to us, isn't that enough proof for you?" Danny's smile grew and he grabbed them all in a hug.

"Geez dude, you're freezing!" Tucker complained, laughing. He traced Danny's hair up and his fingers flinched back. "And your hair is even worse!" Danny chuckled, pulling away gently.

"Comes with the territory. And thanks, for everything. All of you." Sam grinned, pocketing her ecto gun.

"What are friends for, Danny?" He felt another twinge at the name, and shrugged. _Hey, why not?_

"Can… can you guys call me Phantom?" Sam raised one eyebrow.

"_Just_ Phantom?" Her tone was skeptical.

"Yeah." She shrugged, and looked to Tucker and Jazz. They both shrugged back at her and Tucker nodded.

"I suppose…" She turned away. "We'll see you soon." Danny-or as he now wanted to be called, Phantom-grinned.

"Was that a threat?" She turned back, and there was a smirk on her purple lipstick coated lips.

"Maybe…" The ghost laughed.

"Don't worry, you will." At his reassurance, Sam left, with Tucker and Jazz sparing glances back before following the goth girl. When Jazz had snapped the big doors shut, Phantom finally turned his attention back to Vlad. He'd managed to get the gag off, and had been sitting fairly quietly. It surprised Danny, that the man had let them have their parting words. "Being nice for once, Plasmius?" Vlad shrugged, standing up.

"How do you plan on getting to the ghost zone?" Danny shrugged.

"Our por-" He suddenly remembered the Fenton Portal's current situation, and glared at Vlad. "Check that, _your_ portal."

"And what makes you think that I'd let you?" Danny felt himself getting angry again, but forcefully shoved it down.

"I don't know… maybe the fact you can't stop me?" Vlad, never one to turn down a challenge, shifted to Plasmius.

"Why Daniel, what makes you say that?" Danny let his legs melt together and crossed his arms with a loud sigh.

"Well, the fact that I wiped the floor with you when I was barely even trying might be an indication…" Danny said, feeling his ire rising once more. _No… not again… _He could feel his eyes flaring up, and knew that his hair was still flickering in icy flames.

"I doubt that. I'm still here, aren't I?" Danny just rolled his eyes at that.

"Hello? One, you just woke up, and two, this is your house. It's not like you've got anywhere else to go. It must be like one in the morning by now." The teen informed Vlad. "And why would I need your permission? I remember where your lab is." Vlad smirked evilly at Danny's last sentence.

"Because I had a lock installed to keep out a certain annoying ghost. Klemper, I believe you know him…?" Danny gave Vlad a full 'burn-through-solid-metal' venomous glare.

"Yeah. I do. Don't you have subordinates that need to come to Amity?" Vlad waved his glove.

"They could use your family's portal."

"They can't now…"

"Regardless, I still haven't removed the lock on mine. You're stuck here." Vlad floated up to meet Danny.

"Well, then I'll just have to _make_ you tell me." Danny hissed, losing out to the growing irritation rooted deep within his core. Fear flickered in Vlad's eyes for a moment before he sneered.

"How are you going to do that?" Danny held out his right palm out flat to the left of Vlad, crossing his body. He wasn't sure how he knew what to do, but ghostly instinct was beginning to emerge. He filled his hand with energy, then waved it in a wide arc, covering Vlad in wispy green. He hadn't even touched him. "How on earth…? Daniel, where are you getting this from? I've never seen you use anything like-" Vlad suddenly realized that he could barely move. He struggled, and Danny winced at the sensation, (he could feel it-it was sort of like something struggling from a bear hug) but the halfa couldn't do much more then wiggle around.

"_I don't know_." Danny intoned honestly, his 'ghostly voice' returning. "_And I really don't care_." He slowly started closing his hand, seeing the energy condense. Vlad started sweating and squirming around more, obviously feeling pain from the pressure. "_Now, what's the code? I just want to be out of here and back home."_ Danny paused at the choice of words that had slipped out, and his tone moved back from the massive echo. "Home? Why... oh. Well, I suppose a ghost would consider the ghost zone home…" He shrugged, turning his attention back to Vlad and squeezing his hand a little more. "So, you gonna tell me? I'm just going to leave, so why won't you let me go?" Vlad opened his mouth, but his eyes shifted upwards.

"Well, I suppose… let _me_ go and I'll let _you_ go." Danny raised an eyebrow.

"How stupid do you think I am?" Vlad chuckled.

"You don't want to know, my boy. Fine, you can have me in this… energy… on the way down as long as you remove the pressure. Is that good enough for you?" The teen paused to think, loosening his fingers.

"Seems fair. Let's go." He remembered that it was in the basement and phased through the floor. One level down, he noticed the white cat he'd seen on his first trip sleeping peacefully on the maroon couch, its chest slowly moving in and out. Danny spotted the collar, remembered the name, and looked at Vlad, whose cheeks had flushed a light greenish blue. "Seriously? Maddie?" Danny laughed. "I knew you needed a cat but… that's just sad."

"Just keep moving, you little brat." Vlad snapped. Danny chuckled-he could hear the twinge of embarrassment in his rival's voice.

"I'm moving, I'm moving." He phased through the next level or two until he saw the glow that indicated they were in the lab. Danny, now that he had a little more time than before, looked around with interest, and spotted the gun Vlad had used on him before and grinned. He floated over and grabbed it, holding it to Vlad's back as the energy holding the man dissipated.

"Now open the portal." Danny commanded. Vlad sighed, but moved to do it. He started typing the code in, and Danny leaned forward to see what it was, still keeping the weapon trained on Plasmius's back.

_**23, 26, 13, 18, 22, 15, 14, 26, 8, 7, 22, 9, 8. **_Danny turned his gaze away as Vlad finished the code. "Geez, that's long. How do you remember it?" Vlad smirked at the boy as he pressed a small red button and the portal started to open.

"I have my ways, Daniel." His smug grin made Danny realize that the numbers were a code for something, and he narrowed his eyes before taking a deep breath, the air quickly passing through his body. _Stay calm, Phantom… you don't have to deal with him any more…_ Danny floated the gun back to its table and dropped it off before flying over to the portal. The pulsing green energy coming from the portal seemed to tug at Danny's core, like the smell of fresh cookies would lure one home.

"See you later, fruit loop. And by that, I mean hopefully never." Danny said, floating back into the now wide-open portal. The last thing he saw was Vlad's still grinning face before everything melted into green. He was in the ghost zone. Or, as he thought he should now call it…

Home.

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><p>AN I think this chapter is a bit too slow for me… well, not much would look good after last chapter. Yes, the numbers Vlad used are a code. Anyone who figures out what it says can pick between a short DP or IZ oneshot from me of your choice (A thousand words or so) or a long review from me on a story of theirs.

Edit: Mystic Defiance figured it out. It was 'Daniel Masters'. Oh Vlad...

Yeah, anyway… I think this chapter is a bit bland like I said, but I hope you liked it anyway. Please rate and review!

~Shadowdib


	15. Chapter 15

A/N To Cryptological Mystification-I'm about halfway done with your one-shot, and I'll have it up with the next chapter. Thanks for the idea, I've had fun making it so far!

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><p>Danny realized that from a ghost's perspective, the ghost zone looked… different. Not radically, like everything was a different color or something, but the chaos looked more organized. It was like seeing your own messy room compared to someone else's-it looked neater, homier. He lost himself in his thoughts, drifting along aimlessly. Every once in a while, he'd bump into someone he knew. He'd long since tucked the thermos into his pocket, so any fights were merely playful. After a run in with Technus, Danny decided to see if he could find some place he knew to get his bearings. The teen closed his eyes and concentrated, and suddenly felt a warm tingle in his core.<p>

"Well, that works…" Danny shrugged, flying off. The feeling kept getting stronger the longer he flew, until it felt almost like he was burning his core by shoving a flaming marshmallow down. Danny looked at the door he'd ended up in front of. It looked like any other door in the zone, except it was black with a white outline. "Huh… I wonder…" Figuring he had nothing to lose, Danny opened it. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but it sure wasn't what he got.

The room inside looked like just that- a normal bedroom. It had a bluish purple tiled floor, but then, so did his room back at Fentonworks. With that, Danny started really _looking_ at the room. He could see hints of both his parent's lab and his old bedroom, from the small table set up in the corner with a rack for the thermos and other gadgets, to the desk that had a bright green computer on top of it. But, by far, was the strangest sight was the open closet. Sitting in a row was a whole bunch of plushies, all with tilted heads and demented smiles. As Danny floated closer, he saw that there were two sections-one with humans like Sam, Tucker, Jazz, the kids at school, ect. On the end of that row (That was, in the very middle of them all) was a doll that looked like Danny Fenton, smiling happily.

The other section was glowing slightly, and was full of ghosts he'd fought- and occasionally, made friends with. First there was the Lunch Lady, then Technus. Dora as a dragon, Skulker, Poindexter… even Box Ghost. On the very end of that row, Wulf and Frostbite had their hands up in a wave. A mere centimeter away from the Fenton toy, a Danny Phantom doll with wide green eyes had a big grin, his gloved hand touching the Fenton doll's. Danny smiled-it actually was quite a cute sight. He bent down, and noticed a small blur of white and blue in the back of the closet.

"Now, who would go to all the trouble of setting all these up for me and let one fall?" Danny counted the ghost dolls, but he couldn't think of one that had been missed. Shrugging, he leaned over and grabbed the doll, picking it up into the light. His eyes widened, and he almost dropped the plushie. It was a toy of his future self, complete with actual flaming blue hair and maniac fanged grin. Danny wasn't sure what to do with the thing, but he settled for using his energy to try burning up the thing. When he was finished, though, it still looked untouched, beaded red eyes glittering in the light. Danny gulped, setting it on the way end of the ghost half, about a foot and a half away from the Frostbite doll.

"Okay, that's… creepy…" Danny muttered. "But who… wait. No one even knows about him except for Sam, Tucker, Jazz and I!" Danny started pacing in the room-he'd already began to think of it as his. After all, every ghost needed a lair, right? The word rubbed him the wrong way, so he decided to just call it his room. That settled his conscience down. "All right, think Danny. This had to have been done by someone who knows you very well… but other than us four, the only one who knows about him is… Clockwork! It must have been him…" Danny shook his head. "No, I doubt he'd just want to scare me without a reason. So how…?"

He floated over to the bed, surprised at its plushness as the ghost sank in. "And we never did figure out what my obsession was… okay. Maybe if I think of other ghosts' obsessions… but they're not all obvious like Skulker or Box Ghost!" He groaned. "Say, Dora. Or Wulf. Even Frostbite-I have no clue! Maybe not all ghosts have obsessions?" He wiped the idea out of his mind as soon as it had come. "No, maybe they're just not all as obvious-like a nagging rather than a full blown screaming." He sat up, and walked over to the closet, grabbing the Fenton and Phantom dolls before sitting back down on the bed.

"How did you two fit together?" He asked, absently pressing their hands together again. "How did I do it?" Danny sighed, tossing the dolls into the air and using the energy he'd used on Vlad to keep them there. The heads lolled, ending up mushed together like they were kissing. Now that was a weird image. Danny let the Fenton doll drop into his lap. He started playing with the hands and feet using more energy, making it walk.

"Hi, I'm Danny Fenton. I want to be an astronaut, and have two best friends. I'm not very popular and have two ghost fighters as parents, but have a good life." He kept the Danny doll upright as Phantom dropped down next to Fenton. He lowered his voice a little, sounding a bit like 'Super Danny'.

"Hello, I'm Phantom! I'm here to take your life and turn it upside down to protect people who don't even like you and make your life a living terror that your parents will rip you apart!" The teen let both dolls fall limp and buried his face in his arms, his legs curling up so the fabric on his hips touched his boots.

"What happened? Somewhere along the line, Danny Fenton disappeared." He sighed heavily. "I need to go fly." It was only when he'd dropped both dolls back in the closet that he noticed how… oddly worded his comments had been. Like he was talking to someone. The teen shrugged and flew out of the room, shutting the door with a click.

"When am I going to go back?" Danny mused, floating off on his back. "When I figure this out, I suppose. What else could it be? There's fighting ghosts, which, although it seems likely, would go against instinct. I suppose there's attachment to a person, but I miss them all. That's another thing- I really _do_ miss them. Ghosts don't do that." Danny blew up towards his hair, making his mouth an 'O', frustrated. "Geez, I can't even _die_ right!" Danny straightened up-he recognized where he was. He was close to Skulker's Island. When the boy saw something flying off the land, he ducked into a nearby cave. When his metallic nemesis came into sight, he was glad he had, and listened.

"What on earth happened to the Ghost Boy? That chip I planted on him is going crazy! His human vitals are practically nonexistent!" Danny heaved in a useless breath.

Practically?

"I don't want my prey dying on me… that would be no good. I need him half-alive for his pelt to be a worthy prize." The hunting ghost muttered. "But he's not showing up in the human world! Where in the ghost zone could he be? I'll have to get his little assistants to tell me." Nodding, Skulker was about to fly off when Danny decided to reveal himself, tackling the older ghost.

"Don't touch them!" He yelled, avoiding Skulker's backhand.

"Whelp! What are you doing here without your helpers?" Danny still was seething over the fact that Skulker going to attack his friends for information on him.

"None of your business! And you bugged me? Seriously? That's just sick, dude. Did you do it while I was sleeping or something?"

"Actually while you were distr-a hunter never reveals his secrets!" Danny blinked at the statement, before leaning towards Skulker, grabbing his suit tightly and starting to crush the metal from the force of his anger.

"_Don't. Touch. Them_." He hissed, feeling his head have another burst of coolness, and Skulker gasped.

"How did you do that, whelp?" Danny narrowed his eyes, fully intending to use the hunter's moment of confusion to his advantage, when the PDA on Skulker's arm beeped.

"What? Your ectoplasmic energy has risen to a level eight point five? Impossible!" That fact surprised Danny enough to snap him out of his anger induced daze.

"What? I'm usually a _seven point one_!"

"What happened to you, pup? You seem more aggressive. No witty banter, and now an energy rise?" He glanced down at his arm band. "And your ghostly energy has nearly total dominance!"

"Nearly?" Danny's eyes widened again. He hadn't heard him wrong before! "There's still a chance I can reverse this?"

"Reverse what? Just what happened to you?" Skulker's tone was like that of a house cat to a wounded mouse.

"Plasmius decided he wanted to be the only half ghost." Danny spat regretfully. "He injected me with something, and now I'm full ghost."

"Ninety six point ten percent ghost." Skulker corrected. Danny closed his eyes and concentrated, and felt a flicker at his waist. He opened his eyes to see a white spark, but nothing more.

"It's… it's not over?" The boy whispered.

"Well, it's going up. Ninety six point eleven. If you ever want me to hunt you again, I advise fixing yourself fast." Skulker said, almost threateningly.

"Skulker, I could hug you!" The boy waved before shooting off. Skulker took one last look at the quickly disappearing Phantom.

"I'll never understand that Ghost Child…" The hunter muttered before setting off on a new mission of his own. He had a few words for his employer.

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><p>Danny shot through the ghost zone. He had to get to his parents-if anyone could help, they could. His legs melted into a spectral tail as he poured on every ounce of speed he possessed. The doors were beginning to blur as he raced, and his core leapt at a sudden thought as he skidded to a stop.<p>

The Fenton Portal was broken, and Vlad's was locked. He would need to find a door to the real world, somewhere close to Amity Park. In probably a very short amount of time. He would go ask Frostbite, but the Far Frozen was half a day's trip from there without the speeder-by then, it would be too late. Danny decided to just try opening random doors. He pulled open one-There was a bull charging before he slammed it shut again.

"Okay. Not that one." The quick adrenaline rush faded nearly instantly as he tried another door, this time more hesitantly. This time, he was hit by a blast of cold air. His cold core prevented him from shivering, but that obviously wasn't the right one, as he saw a penguin before Danny closed the door….

* * *

><p>About ten doors later (and one accident where he accidentally saw a ghost showering-eww) Danny was inches from giving up.<p>

"Okay… just gotta keep trying…" He pulled open one last door slowly, and was surprised to see a familiar swing set. It was open to a playground a few miles from Casper High! Ecstatic, Danny flew through just before the portal closed. When he reached his hand towards where a green swirl in the human world had been only moments before, there was nothing but air. Shrugging, Danny flew up higher to get better bearings.

"Okay… there's the Nasty Burger… If I fly as fast as I can, I should be able to make it back to Fentonworks with plenty of time to spare."

"Oh, I doubt that." Danny whirled around with a groan, praying he'd misheard-but no, there was the Red Huntress in all of her metallic suited glory with her usual fiery rage and excitement contained in her eyes practically leaking through her mask.

"Look, can this wait? I REALLY don't have the time." Danny pleaded. Valerie raised her gun, her foot shifting on the hover sled.

"Yeah? Well, I say that you _make_ time!" A blue shot headed right for Danny, forcing him to quickly fly up. The ghost growled at the inconvenience and he shot towards Valerie, clenching his now energy streaked fists and preparing to hit her. Suddenly, her hand on the bazooka started trembling.

"How are you _doing_ that, ghost?"

"Doing what?" Danny practically whispered, trying to not outright punch the girl for hindering his attempts to get back to his family.

"Your hair!" Her tone was sharp, but there was a twinge of nervousness. Danny saw an opening to get away, and instantly took it. If he scared Valerie away from Phantom for a while, so be it.

"_It's a symbol of increased power." _The teen hissed_. "I want to fix it, and The Fentons can help. Now, if you'd be so kind as to move out of the way?"_ Oddly enough, although his voice held the ghostly echo, he almost had to force it. The boy wondered why, but quickly shoved the thought away.

"Why would a ghost like you want to lower their energy? And besides, the Fentons hate you!" Danny sighed.

"If I explain my motives to you, then you wouldn't listen anyway. Can't you just ignore me for once?" He'd let his voice drop back to normal.

"Not until you're a puddle of ectoplasm at my feet!" The huntress yelled, darts flying up from her mechanical suit. Danny bent his body avoiding them, then threw up a shield to get rid of the rest. He charged up his hands, soaring up at least fifty feet higher than his former schoolmate.

"If you're not willing to talk, then we'll have to postpone this fight." Danny said coldly. "Permanently." He raised his glowing green hands, waving them over Valerie, before slowly pulling his fingers together.

Valerie gasped as she was covered in the energy-she'd never seen Phantom use an attack like that! Suddenly, she felt pressure on her suit, pressing her in. She would have glared up, but she was honestly shocked-Phantom usually tried to not outright hurt her! He fired ectoblasts at her all the time, but he usually tried to convince her to listen to him with that eternal stupid 'not all ghosts are bad' speech. Now, it seemed he's dropped the charade and was just cutting straight to beating her-something she'd rarely seen.

"What…? Let me go!" The girl struggled weakly, but nothing happened. She'd never felt so useless, unless you counted when Phantom had first ruined her life. She couldn't let him win! Gritting her teeth, Valerie used her suit to blast through the odd energy, dissipating it for a mere moment. She shot out, just as it reformed behind her. Valerie grinned triumphantly up at Phantom, who sighed with something mimicking nervousness, although his frustration, obviously at the attack not working, she assumed, was still very much there.

"See, I can-" Valerie began, but to her surprise, his eyes seemed to be glowing furiously. He shot back down, and for the first time the girl noticed their dark color. "What other affects did this 'energy increase'" She made finger quotes, "Have?" Phantom sighed loudly, holding up his hand.

"I don't know, and I don't want to find out. Saaaay, you probably have scanners on that thing, don't you?" Valerie nodded.

"Yes, but why would you-"

"Can you scan me?" The teen girl gave the ghost a confused stare.

"Why should I listen to you?" Phantom tapped his foot in the air.

"Look, it'll prove my story, I want to know if the rate's been sped up, and you get to see a bunch of stuff about me you might not have figured out. Everybody wins." Valerie was suspicious of his motives, but she wasn't about to turn down an opportunity to gain information about her enemy. She concentrated, and a scanner appeared on her eye screen. She figured she'd humor him for the moment and read the stats out loud.

"_Identified name-Phantom._ _Ecto-entity-level eight point eight, a one point seven rise from last scan. Ectoplasmic energy-97.2 complete._ (Valerie had no idea what that stat meant, and breezed over it, although Phantom's tan face did seem to pale a bit at the number.) _Core stable, cool energy covering the majority-"_

"That's enough. Can I go now?" He was tapping his foot again. The girl was shocked. He hadn't been lying?

"Just this once-but only because I don't want you stronger, got that?"

"Gotchya." He did a little salute-mocking her, she was sure-before zooming off, leaving a trail of green energy in his wake.

Danny was half-glad he'd run into Valerie-she had helped in her own weird 'try to kill him' way. Now even more motivated to reach his family, Danny raced towards Fentonworks, knowing full well that his time was running like a ticking time bomb…

And he wasn't sure what would happen when the timer ran down.

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><p>AN Danny now has some hope… Okay, this one was both fun and hard at the same time. Skulker was fun, but Valerie was kinda tricky. Oh well, if you have any tips on improving them lay it on me. I really did have fun with the dolls (A few tiny Pitch Pearl moments in there, hehe.), and I'm curious to see if anyone has the same headcanon that I do explaining Danny's room. As always, all comments are appreciated. Rate and review, please!


	16. Chapter 16

A/N The stats of this story are amazing to me. The first chapter has over 1,600 views, and every single one following that has more than 200 views. Thanks to all of you, especially those who have been with this story a while. As a young authoress, it's just amazing to know people are reading my works, and most of you saying you like it just blows my mind. I can't thank all of you enough. Okay, this chapter was tricky… I wasn't sure how it was going to go. Finally, I decided to let you guys see what was on the tape, and rest came easier. It's in pretty long paragraphs, but please bear with me. It's only the first part of the chapter. Hope you enjoy!

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><p>Jazz peeped into Danny's room, before walking in. The room seemed like he'd just left it, but the air felt oddly ominous, like it wasn't meant to be disturbed, like he'd, well, died. There was a black video tape on his bed, but with a scribbled note on top. Curious, Jazz picked them both up.<p>

'Give to Sam to show to school' Jazz guessed that he was going to give the tape to Sam, and tell her to call some sort of assembly.

"What could this be?" The teen shrugged, walking back downstairs. Sam and Tucker had gone home, and her parents were in the lab, so she could pop the tape in with no interruption. It frizzed for a moment, before her father appeared.

"Hi, this is the Fenton-"

"Nope, that's not it. Danny must not have deleted the first part." Jazz fast forwarded until she saw her brother as Danny Phantom, looking serious. "Oops- back… there we go."

"And that's why you should consider Fentonworks! 'Bye!" Her father finished, before the screen flickered over to Danny.

"Hi, this is Danny Phantom, and I have something to tell all of you. I'm sure that most of you know me-okay, check that, you all do. There's a huge billboard in the middle of town that would be hard to miss. But one thing a few of you have probably noticed is that unless there's a ghost fight or someone to be saved, I'm very tricky to find. There's a reason for that, although I know it's going to be hard to believe. Everyone knows that all comic book heroes have secret identities, someone they can become to avoid the spotlight. Superman was Clark Kent, Iron Man was Tony Stark." Jazz gasped-it didn't take a genius to figure out where Danny was going with this.

"I'll just go with the closest to my situation-Peter Parker, Spiderman-a wimpy, unpopular kid who was given incredible powers. He used them for saving the town from super villains-pretty much my situation. What I'm leading to is that…" He paused, taking a deep breath. "…Is that I'm half human. Okay, I know that a few of you are going to be rethinking some past actions, and others are wondering why I'm saying this. The rest are just wondering how it's even possible. Heroes never give away their secret identity until they're, like, dead, right? Okay, that was unintentional. Anyway, I'm sure most of you are wondering who I am as a human. Before I tell you who I really am, I'm going to say this-I was a bottom of the barrel, unpopular loser in most of your books. I was kicked around, bullied, and above all, never fought back. I didn't want to hurt any of you, jerks as some of you may be, because the hero has to stand for what's right, not just what petty revenge he wants." He shrugged. "Okay, so that took me a while to learn, but I know it now."

The screen Danny stepped forward. He took another deep breath, before he closed his eyes. Jazz's breath hitched in her throat as the rings appeared at her little brother's waist. They split much more slowly than usual, and Danny seemed to be doing it on purpose. Still, after about ten seconds, Danny Fenton was facing the camera. When he opened his eyes, they were bright glowing green.

"I'm one of you. A stupid teenage kid, who's gotten in way over his head more times than I can count. I've had these powers for eight months, although it seems like a lifetime. In order to keep this under a century long, I'll give you the short version. I walked into my parent's ghost portal, and accidentally turned it on from the inside. I got zapped with ghost energy, and become what the ghosts call a 'halfa'. I decided to use my powers to stop the ghosts coming through the portal I opened. I'm telling you this because my arch-rival decided that I was too dangerous or something and decided to inject a chemical that kept me either human or ghost. By the time you see this video, Danny Fenton will be dead." Danny sighed.

"Since I doubt I'll have a chance to talk to her before this is all over, I'm addressing this to the Red Huntress. I know you're in here, and probably are in shock. I'm really sorry I could never tell you, and I assure you, what happened leading up to you deciding to hunt me was one hundred percent a chain of really unfortunate accidents. With that said, I need to wrap up, because the tape's almost out." He sighed, going ghost again. "My point is, don't judge a book by its cover. Who knows if that nerd knows karate, or that girl who looks like an airhead has problems at home? You don't, so a helping hand can go so much further than a sock in the gut. And, lastly… If you see me, don't ask me about this-being Danny Fenton, or who did this to me. Some things… some things are better left unsaid." With that depressing final note, Danny leaned forward and clicked off the camera.

"Wow…" Jazz settled back in the chair. Danny hadn't sounded like her little brother… he'd sounded like a real superhero, who was trying to reveal himself with dignity. She hadn't seen as much of that since he'd discovered she knew his secret all those months back-he'd always still acted like Danny, who just happened to have ghost powers. "He-"

_Fwooosh!_ Her orange hair swirled about her head as a black blur shot past the girl.

"Danny?" She whispered. The blur had flown down to the lab, and Jazz ran down after it. Her parent's excited yelling confirmed her suspicions. "Danny!" As she reached the bottom step, Jazz saw her Maddie hugging Danny tightly.

"I'm okay mom, but time's kind of a-"

"Nonsense! What could be so important?" Jack called, leaning in. Danny gently pushed away from his mother.

"I ran into Skulker-"

"Who?" Maddie asked.

"He's a hunter who's wanted my pelt on his rug for as long as I can remember because I was half ghost, but that's not important." Maddie's eyes widened, and she raised a hand to her mouth. "My point is, he scanned me and said that there was some human DNA still left, but fading fast. If we hurry, we could save it!" His mother's eyes widened.

"There is?" Danny nodded.

"But we do need to hurry-I ran into Va-The Red Huntress on the way back, and it's going pretty quickly. Do you still have that cure from before?"

"Yes…" Maddie replied. "Jack, dear-"

"I'll get it!" The man raced over, grabbing the vial and coming back.

"Okay, so it would probably need to be amplified or something… but it's better than working from scratch." Danny said. "Can you do a scan to see how much longer we have?" Maddie nodded, readjusting her goggles as a red light scanned over Danny's body.

"Okay, so your energy level is at- eight point nine? I thought you were at less than that!"

"I was a seven point one, but that's not important. What else?" Danny sounded anxious.

"Okay… core fully operational but slightly unstable, ectoplasmic energy 97.6 percent…" Danny's red eyes widened.

"What? I just got away from V-her like two minutes ago! It's gone up point four percent since then?"

"I guess so… we'll get to work." Maddie said, grabbing the vial from Jack. "We'll run another scan in about another five minutes so we can know how long we have." Danny nodded.

"Sounds good." He stretched, floating up unto his stomach and crossing his legs, looking almost like a black-jump suited Peter Pan. Well, with whitish blue hair and a glow. "Can I call Sam and Tucker?"

"I'll do it!" Jazz volunteered. Danny nodded at her before she ran upstairs, having left her phone on her bed. Danny turned back to his parents.

"So, how long was I gone? There aren't exactly calendars in the ghost zone, and I don't have a watch…"

"It's Monday." Jack replied. "You've only been gone for a day." Danny crossed his arms, his gloved fingers twitching like he was bored.

"Really? I suppose that's good… no one would have noticed I'm gone yet. There weren't any ghost attacks, right?"

"Well, just a small one with some sort of ghost bat. We took care of it easily." Maddie said, not even turning around.

"Oh, okay…" Danny didn't have anything left to say, and floated into an upright position. He started pacing in midair. After a bit, he stopped, twirling his fingers together.

"How long has it been?" His mother checked her watch, laughing.

"It's been seventy three seconds, Danny." He sighed, crossing his legs and setting his arms down, still a few feet above the ground.

"How long do you think this will take? Can I go out?"

"Danny, do you want to run the risk of getting caught? You can wait an hour."

"No, I can't!" Danny complained, starting to pace again. "I'm jittery like I just drank ten cups of coffee. You sure there's nothing I can do?"

"Yes…"

"Then I'm going to wait for Sam and Tucker outside." Without waiting for his mother's next words, Danny shot up through the roof and out the door. He knew that they were already on their way if Jazz had called both of his friends, so he figured that he'd just wait. Danny went invisible, not wanting to get into any time-wasting trouble, until he saw a little brunette girl in a turquoise dress walking her white poodle. The girl was smiling, and Danny mirrored her expression. "Aw… these are the things that make the town worth protecting…" He quietly mused aloud. Suddenly, the girl gasped as a green blob appeared in front of her, grabbing her dog and flying up. Danny's eyes widened-another ghost! Unconsciously, he grinned almost maliciously as he shimmered into invisibility, racing forward and smacking the ghost shoulder to shoulder. The ghost dropped the frightened poodle right into the girl's arms, who looked both terrified and excited.

"Danny Phantom!" She practically squealed. Danny nodded to her, before turning back to the ghost and holding up his fist, letting it glow with green energy.

"I can't ever leave here, can I?" He said, sounding sarcastically reminiscent. "Scum like you will always be here. I guess it's my job to be this town's protector. I mean, c'mon! Actually stealing from a little kid? It's ghosts like you that give ghosts like me a bad name!" Danny plunged his hand deep into the ghost, for the first time noticing what the specter looked like. If he had to say, he'd compare it to Bertrand, Spectra's assistant-mostly formless, except for a black ring around the eyes that looked almost like a mask. The ghost's eyes widened, before suddenly it exploded, flinging ectoplasm all over Danny and the little girl. Oddly, Danny didn't mind, but the little girl looked terrified. Danny felt a pang in his core and set a finger on her, making her intangible and dropping all the goo off of her. He didn't bother cleaning himself off, but visually inspected the child in front of him.

"Are you okay?" She nodded quickly, her hazel eyes wide. "Then you should probably run along home now."

"Can I…" She paused, clenching her dog's hair into her fingers, "Can I have your auto… autogra… name?" Danny smiled.

"Sure! Got any paper?" She pulled out a small, intricate journal that had 'My Diary' printed in loopy letters on the front, and opened it.

"My mommy gave it to me for my birthday, and said I'd be able to write in it when I got older. I keep it on me in case." It was little moments like this that Danny loved-just being with the people. She rummaged around in her dress, and pulled out a purple pen. "Here!" Danny took it, still smiling. He signed on the first page 'Phantom' and as an afterthought, pressed his hand onto the paper, the fingers surrounding his messy writing.

"There you go." Her grin was so warm it could have set the moon on fire.

"Thanks, Mr. Phantom!" Danny ruffled her hair.

"Just Phantom-I'm not an adult! You've got a great story to tell your parents, so go on!" He gently pushed the back of her dress, getting a little green on it but not caring. She turned around and suddenly grabbed Danny into a tight hug, her face nuzzling into his stained suit on his lower stomach.

"Thank you!" Danny grinned, lifting her up.

"You're welcome." He tucked a strand of brown hair behind her ear and set her down. "I think I've scared your dog enough…" She giggled and grabbed the leash, skipping off. Danny sighed happily, until he heard a chuckle behind him.

"Just can't stay away, can you?" The ghost's grin widened even more as he whirled around.

"Sam!" The goth girl was standing a few feet away, with Tucker right behind her.

"I didn't think you'd figure out the meaning of life so quickly, but I'm glad you did." She teased, walking forward. Danny sealed the distance by flying over.

"I didn't-I ran into Skulker, and it turns out that Vlad didn't do it completely-he messed up somehow, and there's still just enough human in me that they might be able to reverse it!" Sam's mouth fell open.

"Really?" Danny nodded.

"Yep, it-whoa!" Sam had grabbed him into a tight hug, and Tucker had a huge grin on his face.

"That's great dude! So your parents-"

"Are working on it, yeah." Danny gently pulled himself away from Sam. "I figured I'd just wait for you guys."

"Uh, Danny…" Tucker moved his head up and down, indicating the ectoplasm that still covered Danny and had gotten on Sam.

"Oh, this? It's nothing." Danny waved his hand. "I'm just glad to see you two. The ghost zone has no concept of time-actually, I'm half-surprised that a week hasn't passed."

"Can you just phase it off? It's like seeing you covered in blood-kinda creepy." Tucker admitted. Danny huffed, but set a hand on Sam's shoulder and turned them both intangible. Most of the goo slid off, except some that had already caked to his gloves.

"Better?"

"Yeah… so. How did you see Skulker?" Tucker asked.

"I just saw him flying off his island. Nothing special." Danny shrugged. He was beginning to get restless again, and his foot started tapping.

"We should check in with your parents." Danny's mouth twisted.

"I can't help, so I don't know why." He floated up, crossing his legs into pretzel position.

"Well then, what do you _want_ to do?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Go see if there are any more ghost attacks." Danny answered instantly.

"Why? This is more important!"

"No, being able to protect people is!" Danny argued, before Sam lightly slapped his face. He glared down at her for a moment, before shaking his head rapidly.

"Man… wicked headache. Sorry… we should go in." The teen's legs melted together as he crossed his arms.

"Okaaaaay…" Tucker said slowly. "That's a quick switch…"

"I dunno what I was thinking." Danny muttered, rubbing his head. "I don't want it to happen again, though." He grabbed Sam and Tucker and floated them all over to the door, phased through it, then brought them all down to the lab.

"Thanks for lift bud, but we can walk." Tucker said. Sam was just inspecting Danny with a curious look on her face.

"Danny, did you figure out what your ghostly obsession was?" He turned to her and shook his head.

"No… why?"

"Because I think I've got it."

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><p>AN Meh, Sam and Tucker sound off to me. Oh well. I know the video is a bit of a ramble, but Danny had a lot to say and did it all in one take. I hope you liked the chapter, please rate and review!


	17. Chapter 17

A/N Okay, this chapter was HARD. I had no idea how I wanted to end, and while I wanted Danny to go back to being a halfa there was a part of me that really felt like it would end better if he stayed a ghost. I was kind of chasing myself in circles, until I finally decided on this. I hope you enjoy.

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><p>"What? You have?" Danny gasped. Sam nodded slowly.<p>

"Now, I might have this wrong, but hear me out. Although it could be ghost fighting still, you wouldn't have helped that little girl after, would you? You would've just left and looked for another fight. And, I could see on your face that you liked helping her. So, maybe your obsession is helping and protecting people." Danny grinned at the prospect.

"I could handle that." He floated up slightly. "Actually it's probably the best obsession I could ask for!" He laughed. His mother finally noticed him and his friends.

"You're back! We can scan you now." Danny nodded.

"Oh yeah, almost forgot… how long has it been?" Maddie checked her watch.

"Seven minutes." She held out a scanner. It looked like a speedometer, but with a green screen instead of a gray one. She slowly waved it up and down in front of Danny. After a few seconds, it beeped. Some of the color drained from Maddie's face.

"What? What is it?" Danny asked quickly, biting his lip. He floated over, grabbing his mother's shoulders. She turned the scanner around, and Danny gasped, a gloved hand flying to his mouth. He slowly lowered his hand before he read it out loud, clenching his fists. "98.7 percent…"

_There's not much time. _The thought was universal.

"Mrs. Fenton, how much longer do you think-"

"We're working as fast as we can. It's going to come right down to the wire. Danny, it'd be best if you stayed in the house, just in case." Danny nodded, before setting his feet down on the floor.

"Right…" The ghost boy walked over to his father.

"So, dad. How long…?" Jack turned to his son, a worried look etched unto his normally cheery face.

"We're almost finished, but there's still a few bugs to work out. Maddie! Can you come over here?" The woman hurried next to her husband.

"Any more progress sweetie?" Jack shook his head.

"No, but do you think you can decode this set of DNA molecules?" Danny figured that was his cue to leave, and he walked back over to his friends.

"C'mon, let's go to my room." Nodding, Sam and Tucker followed Danny up the stairs. As they passed the living room, Sam noticed Jazz reading on the couch. There was a video on her lap, and when she looked up she quickly turned to Sam.

"Oh, hey guys! Sam, Danny had this on his bed. It said he wanted to give it to you." Danny quickly ran over and grabbed it.

"Well, it depends now. If they don't find the cure, I'll give it to her, but otherwise…" He glanced back at Sam. "It won't matter."

"What is it?"

"Oh, just a video explaining to everyone who I really was. If Mom and Dad finish the cure in time, I'll probably destroy this." He grinned. "Just in case." Sam nodded.

"Oh… mind if I see it?" Danny shrugged.

"If you want to, I'll show you later." Sam nodded, before Tucker called from the bottom of the stairs.

"You two coming?" Danny flew over, and Sam followed as they walked upstairs. Tucker flopped on the bed while Danny floated into a pretzel position across from him. Sam sat down next to Tucker.

"So, Danny, what exactly happened in the ghost zone?" Danny raised his index finger to his chin and tapped it a few times.

"Well, I got into a few play fights, but eventually I decided to find somewhere to try and stay. The Far Frozen was too far, but as soon as I decided to find somewhere else, I felt this weird warmth in my core…" Upon saying it, Danny realized how weird that sounded, but neither Sam nor Tucker seemed to mind. "Anyway, I followed it to this black and white door. When I opened it, there was a room that looked like a cross between the lab and my room here. It had a bed and a computer and everything." Danny had decided to keep the dolls to himself.

"Huh… I wonder how that happened? Who made it?" Sam asked.

"That's what I was trying to figure out. At first I thought of Clockwork, but that didn't really make sense."

"Huh. Well, next time we go into the ghost zone we'll have to check. Maybe it only works for full ghosts?" Tucker suggested.

"I wonder if Vlad has a room like that…" Danny absently said. "Probably not…"

"When did you run into Skulker?" Sam asked.

"Well, I decided to leave, and I was just drifting, trying to decide to come back, when I passed Skulker's island. He was flying off of it." Suddenly, Danny remembered the other piece of information he'd learned and started patting down his suit. "I almost forgot-that jerk bugged me!" Sam's eyes widened, but Tucker laughed.

"Want some help with that?" Danny had reached his hand up his shirt and by the bulge was feeling up and down his stomach and chest.

"Sure."

"I'm just going to search for technology on you." Tucker clarified. Danny nodded, pulling his hand out of his shirt.

"Okay, do your thing then." Tucker fiddled with his PDA for a long moment, until it finally beeped.

"Sorry, it's implanted in your arm. A real tiny one, and from the tiny glow it's ghost proof. You're not getting that out except through surgery." Danny sighed.

"Ugh… that stinks. Okay, so…" He looked around. "What now?"

"Now we wait I suppose…" Tucker said, pulling a pillow up to his chest. Sam nodded, settling back.

"So, who else did you run into?"

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><p>Danny spent probably fifteen minutes explaining what had happened in the ghost zone, with Sam and Tucker having a good laugh a few times.<p>

"Danny!" Came a familiar feminine voice from downstairs. Danny shot up, hitting his head on the ceiling.

"Ow! Uh, yeah Jazz?" He called down, rubbing his head while Sam and Tucker laughed.

"Mom and Dad are finished!" Danny grinned, flying forward and grabbing Sam and Tucker's hands before turning down, phasing them all through to the lab. The first thing he saw was his mother with a large smile, and his father was behind her with an identical expression. He heard footsteps from the stirs and saw a rush of blue, orange and black as his sister raced across the lab before grabbing him in a hug.

"Now everything can go back to normal!" Jazz exclaimed.

"No, it can't…" Danny said. "Mom and Dad know." He was grinning too, though, showing his excitement. His mother walked up and hugged him from behind.

"Sorry to break up the moment, but aren't we wasting time?" Sam said, tapping her foot. Jazz grinned sheepishly and walked over to the table holding the now completed cure.

"Right…" She picked the vial up. The chemical inside was now an equal mix of green, lavender, and red. Danny wondered where they'd gotten the extra human blood, but his parents were a mystery sometimes. Perhaps they'd used the ecto-dejecto somehow. Jazz carried the cure over to her brother, who handed it to their mother. It had a needle on the end, so it was obviously intended to be injected.

"Mom, do you want to do the honors?" She nodded, shifting her hand so the needle was pointed at Danny. He pulled up his left sleeve as far as he could, and she set the syringe on top of tanned skin. Danny nodded once, before Maddie pressed the plunger. As the three-colored liquid emptied into Danny's body, he bit his lip at the sudden heat in his arm, undoubtedly from the human blood and possibly the chemicals in the cure. When it had all been injected into Danny, he slammed his red eyes shut, trembling. Maddie quickly pulled out the needle and backed away as Danny fell to his knees.

"Grrr…" The ghost hissed, clenching his arms, both covered and not. His arm felt like it had been shoved into a furnace, and the sensation was fast spreading. After a moment, his core lit up with the energy, feeling like it was melting and being painfully frozen at the same time. His other arm, head, and legs soon followed, and Danny bit back a cry. He was well aware that he was trembling, and when he pried his eyes open all that he could see was blue. He found that odd, white or black would make more sense, but no, it was a light blue. After a sudden strong jolt that forced his spine up, it was over. Danny blinked, his vision clearing.

"Mom?" She was the first one he'd seen. "What…" She'd bit her lip.

"You're still a ghost, but…" She pointed to his hair. Danny raised his glove up to his head, running his fingers through-normal, ruffled bangs. Taking a deep breath (that still made him feel empty) he clenched his fist and let his other hand drop before he concentrated. He had to reach as deep as he could for the miniscule speck of warmth, but the boy just about fainted with relief when he saw a blue light surrounding his waist. He wanted it to happen as quickly as possible, but it took a good six seconds before another look down yielded pale skin and worn jeans. His eyes were wide, and Danny's mouth was slightly open. He couldn't believe it.

"It… it worked…" Danny breathed. He inhaled, feeling his human lungs fill. "It really worked…" He was almost knocked to the ground by his older sister.

"Danny! You're back!" He couldn't breathe from Jazz's strong grip, but he didn't care. He just closed his eyes and relaxed, enjoying the feel of the steady beat of his heart and the feel of his sister's heavy breathing through her chest. Danny smiled to himself.

_You don't realize how much you miss something… until it's gone…_ He gently pulled himself away from his sister, before turning to his parents. They were both beaming.

"Remind me to never doubt either of you again." His father's grin widened, and his mother's eyes were wide. Danny ran over, grabbing them both in a hug. (Well, as close as he could get, considering his father's size…) Danny just couldn't believe that it was over, but his smile was just about off of his face at this point. He pulled away, grinning at both of them. "You're the best parents ever."

"Ehem." Tucker said, clearing his throat. Danny turned over to them before literally flying straight into his best friends, grabbing them into a big hug.

"And I couldn't have made it through any of this without you either! Thank you thank you thank you!" His eyes were wide open, calculating their reactions. Tucker was laughing, and Sam was blushing lightly, but grinning. When she opened her mouth, the words that came out seemed careful, but warm and inviting, letting the newly redeemed halfa know that everything was truly going to go back to normal.

"Welcome back, Danny."

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><p>AN Wow… I kind of can't believe this is over. I started this story about a year ago, and published it two months short of twelve months. I know, I know, sappy ending, but I think Danny deserved it. This chapter is shorter, but I think it ties up the story pretty nicely. Any lingering questions, feel free to ask. I thank all of my reviewers from the bottom of my heart, and truly hope you enjoyed this little story of mine. Please review, and remember-Phantom forever!

Edit: Possible epilogue chapter in the works.


	18. Chapter 18

Epilogue

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><p>Vlad was very satisfied with himself. He looked absently around his lounge room, recalling how things had gone with the teenager. True, Daniel <em>had<em> had the upper hand during their recent fight, but that was merely because he'd discovered a few new abilities, the man reasoned with himself. As someone who was so good at conning people, he had to give the boy credit for managing to trick him. Still, Vlad had won in the end-now, the boy was a full ghost, and therefore had to follow ghost instincts. Vlad settled back on his maroon couch, stroking Maddie. Daniel had shown instincts quite clearly in the fight, in that he obviously wasn't holding anything back. Thus, he wouldn't care about his idiotic father as much and Vlad could lure him with ghostly power and status. Plus, with the boy so powerful, having him as an assistant would make Vlad's already feared reputation in the ghost zone even stronger. Yes, everything had gone according to plan... Suddenly, an insistent shrill sounded in the old halfa's ear. It was a warning that a ghost was trying to get into his locked portal. Grabbing his scanner from his breast pocket on his suit, Vlad sighed to see it was only Skulker.

"I wonder what he wants?" The man wondered aloud, phasing through the floor before entering the long code. When the mechanically-suited hunter floated into the lab, Vlad noticed for the first time that he seemed angry about something.

"Why would you do that?" The ghost said shortly to the halfa, obviously restraining himself.

"Do what?" Vlad asked, his tone amused. Of course, he should have expected this-Skulker wouldn't take too well to having his favorite prey turned into a mere ghost, instead of the elusive halfa he'd searched for for so long...

"You know full well what, Plasmius!" With his hands twitching and mouth narrowed into a frown, Skulker looked quite comical at the moment to Vlad. "Why did you do that to the whelp?"

"I have my reasons, Skulker." Vlad answered calmly. He'd suddenly hatched an idea-one that would be killing two birds with one stone, so to speak. It would get Skulker off his back, and it would help keep down that traitor who'd escaped his grasp not once, but twice. "May I offer a substitute?" Skulker opened his mouth to reply, before closing it.

"Substitute? I only want the pelt of the whelp on my wall, nothing more and nothing less."

"Well, I can offer you _another_ Phantom child for your collection instead, one that is just as unique as Daniel..." Vlad chuckled. "You could even say they're practically twins." Skulker raised an eye.

"I'm listening…"

Once Vlad explained about Dani, Skulker agreed to give hunting her a try. Vlad had assured the hunter that she indeed was a worthy target, as she'd avoided capture before. (True, he hadn't mentioned Daniel's involvement, but it was a just a _little_ white lie…) Although, when Skulker had left, he had a grin on his face that seemed more like he was enjoying a private joke rather than merely being excited about the hunt. Vlad brushed it off, but before he could go back to his lounge, he heard a knock on his door. Muttering to himself, he floated through three floors to reach his front hall. Brushing his suit off, the billionaire slowly opened the door. He looked around for a moment, before spotting a small envelope floating by his bushes. Confused, Vlad stepped towards it. The envelope didn't seem to be attached to anything, but Vlad couldn't sense any ghosts that could be holding it… Grabbing it, he used his nail to slit the top, holding it away from his face in case there was some sort of trick, but nothing came out.

"Now who would…?" Reaching in, Vlad saw a picture. It was an instant one, square with a white rim. Pulling out, he discovered an image of Daniel and his friends, with the boy in the middle with his arms draped over Sam and Tucker's shoulders. Vlad ran his finger along the boy's face-he looked so happy. "What is this?" Vlad looked around, but saw no one. Glancing down at the picture again, he noticed something- Daniel was wearing his normal street clothes, therefore leaving his arms exposed. The man would have assumed that the picture had been taken a while ago, except the date in the corner was today, Sunday the fourteenth. Vlad looked up; again checking for who possibly could have left the photo. It didn't quite seem like a trick someone would play… and how on earth had the boy gotten his entire costume off and his skin paler again? It seemed like a lot of trouble to go to for a simple photograph…

"Hello?" He called. There was no answer except for the wind blowing in the trees. Checking his watch, Vlad realized that it was six thirteen at night. Odd, it seemed earlier then that… Suddenly, a shiver ran up his spine as he felt a hand run down his back, then around his ear. His eyes widened and he whirled around, but no one was there. The man quickly changed forms, feeling a bit more confident and powerful to face this unseen foe. His cape whirled up in the wind, brushing his glove. "Who's there?" Again, there was no answer.

"Are you afraid to show yourself?" He taunted, revealing no nervousness. A second later, something twitched in a nearby tree. Vlad instantly shot a pink ecto blast, but all that was revealed were a few drifting emerald leaves lazily making their way to the ground. Vlad's eyes darted from side to side, although it would be hard for anyone-or any_thing_-watching to tell. In an instant, Vlad felt an odd sensation encircling his body. It was like a light fabric being draped loosely around his legs and torso, but somehow solid and nearly liquid at the same time. From what he could pinpoint, it started near his boots and twisted around, just barely brushing his legs and chest, but the mere cold presence made him shiver. He felt a pair of invisible hands on his shoulder before a few words were practically hissed into his ear in a sickeningly familiar teenage voice.

"Game's back on, frootloop."

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><p>AN This was a lot of fun to write. Someone asked if we could see what Vlad thought before he discovered Danny got his human half back, and this was what came of that. It's a bit short, but any longer would have just been dragging it out I think. Heh, figures Vlad's a bit paranoid. Oh, and this is a few hours after Danny got the cure. I guess Vlad's portal is a while from Skulker's island or something. I hope you liked this, and please review!


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